Religious locations across the state have remained closed since March of this year. (Representative)
Bombay:
Religious venues in Maharashtra reopen for worshipers to offer prayers from Monday after several months of closure due to the lockdown imposed in an effort to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
The office of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra (CMO) had informed on Saturday that all religious places, including temples, shrines, churches, dargahs, etc. state would be allowed to reopen to worshipers from November 16.
Notably, the main religious places in the state, including the temple of Sai Baba in Shirdi, the Mahim Dargah in Mumbai and the Dagdusheth Halwai temple in Pune, have been prepared for their reopening to devotees.
Doors to places of worship were opened after midnight for branch officials to clean and sanitize the premises before it reopened for worshipers to offer morning prayers.
“After midnight, the doors of Dargah Sharif were opened and those in charge of the leadership entered the premises. After the clean-up, the dargah will be open to worshipers for Namaz early in the morning, ”said Suhail Y Khandwani, administrator of Mahim Dargah.
Mr. Khandwani also urged the population to cooperate with the government and leadership in Dargah to ensure that people can offer prayers without risking further exposure to COVID-19.
“People have been waiting for more than eight months. Government SOPs and internal dargah SOPs will be followed. We have set up boards with government and Dargah SOPs. Only those with face masks will be allowed inside the premises and their temperature will be recorded before entry, ”he said.
Dagdusheth Halwai Temple in Pune has also carried out a comprehensive sanitation process of the temple premises and made arrangements for adherence to the COVID-19 protocol.
Speaking to ANI, Sunil Rasne, vice president of the temple trust, said, “At this time, we will not allow devotees to wait outside or offer prasad and flowers here. are only allowed to take darshan and leave the premises immediately. “
The management of Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi said they would only allow visitors inside the premises after booking online for a specific time slot.
“Devotees who wish to visit will need to make an online reservation to secure a time slot for ‘darshan’. Along with this, people will also have to show a COVID-negative RT-PCR result at the door. , children and pregnant women will not be allowed to enter the temple, ”said a temple leadership representative.
“We have made arrangements to control the crowds at the temple. People will be assigned online time slots for the visit. Only 6,000 people will be allowed to enter the temple in one day. The temple will only remain open for 2 p.m., ”the representative said. added.
Religious venues across the state have remained closed since March of this year, when the central government imposed a full lockdown to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
