Religious places reopen in Maharashtra; CM visits Mumbai temple on 1st day of Navratri

After remaining closed for nearly six months due to the Covid19 pandemic religious places reopened in Maharashtra on Thursday with devotees seen visiting various temples and mosques in Mumbai and other places since early morningChief Minister Uddhav Thackarey along with his wife Rashmi Thackeray and two sons Aaditya and Tejas visited the Mumba Devi temple here around 845 am and offered prayer to the Goddess as the reopening of religious places coincided with the beginning of the nineday Navratri festivalCM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray along with his wife Smt Rashmi Thackeray Minister AUThackeray and Mayor KishoriPednekar visited the Mumbadevi Temple early this morning pictwittercom6s1QHGccNQmdash CMO Maharashtra CMOMaharashtra October 7 2021Since early morning devotees were seen visiting various temples in the state capital Mumbai while adhering to the mask and social distancing normsMosques in the city also witnessed a steady stream of the faithful since morningThe CM and his family members all wearing masks and following the social distancing rule were there in the Mumba Devi temple premises for about halfanhourMumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar was also present there along with the CMAfter offering prayers the chief minister extended greetings to citizens on the occasion of the Navratri festivalIt is the responsibility of all to observe health protocols at the places of worship in view of the Covid19 pandemic he saidThe CM said he prayed to Goddess Mumba Devi to eradicate the coronavirus completelyHe said the trustees and priests of all places of worship should ensure that devotees follow discipline while offering prayers and the shrine premises are cleaned and sanitised frequently and proper social distancing is followedWe can set an example in this regard he saidHe also praised places of worship like the famous Siddhivinayak temple here for using QR code and other technologies to facilitate online darshan for devoteesMiddayNews After remaining closed for nearly six months due to the COVID19 pandemic religiousplaces reopened in Maharashtra on ThursdayPics iamATULKAMBLE Midday Unlock Photos MaharashtraUnlock pictwittercomFC4yasmqwMmdash Mid Day mid_day October 7 2021After the first coronavirus wave waned places of religious worship were reopened in Maharashtra in November last year but they were closed again for people after the second wave started in the state in March 2021For long the opposition BJP had been demanding reopening of temples and other places of worship in Maharashtra The party staged protests in August in several cities of Maharashtra in support of its demandThe Maharashtra government last month announced reopening of all religious places from October 7 in the state with Covid19 protocols a move that comes amid indication that the second wave of the pandemic is ebbingBesides Mumbai religious places in other parts of the state also reopened on ThursdayIn neighbouring Thane city BJP MLC Niranjan Davkhare visited the famous Ghantali Devi temple and offered prayers to the GoddessA number of devotees mostly women dressed in traditional attire were seen visiting the templeThe Kopineshwar temple in the main market area of Thane city and the Lord Shiva temple in Ambernath town also reopened their doors for devotees early in the morningThe temple managements provided sanitisers to visitors and ensured that social distancing was followedIn adjoining Palghar district the reopening of the Mahalaxmi temple at Dahanu and the Vajreshwari temple in Vasai were marked by musical performances arranged by temple managementsFlower vendors and those selling other items for prayers expressed happiness at the reopening of religious placesSapna Mali whose family earned a living by selling flowers outside a Ganesh temple in Thane city said It is good that the temples have reopened otherwise it would have been difficult for us to survive in these timesLast month while announcing the reopening of religious places Chief Minister Thackeray had urged people not to drop guard and continue Covid19appropriate behaviour in view of a possible third wave of the pandemicThe government had issued standard operating procedures SOPs for devotees and officials managing places of worship to ensure strict implement of coronavirusrelated protocols and curb spread of the infectionThese strict measures include nondistribution of prasad offerings no sprinkling of holy water no touching of statues idols or holy books and staggering the number of visitors to maintain social distancing a government order earlier saidFace mask or covering of the face is mandatory while visiting religious places it said adding the minimum distance between two persons should be six feetThe state government advised senior citizens pregnant women and children below 10 years of age to remain at homeThe management of shrines should provide separate entry and exit points for devotees if possible to avoid crowding said the orderPeople should avoid physical contact while greeting each other it addedThe Mumbai civic body issued an order last week capping the number of visitors to places of worship to 50 per cent of total capacityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever