E-Paper
Crowds keep Covid norms and queue up at places of worship in Pune
PUNE Places of worship across the religious spectrum in Pune reopened on Thursday for public worship
PUNE Places of worship across the religious spectrum in Pune reopened on Thursday for public worship. Temples in particular drew large crowds as October 7 is the first day of the nine-day Navratri festival.
At the famous Dagdusheth Ganpati temple, queues of faithful lined up from as early as 7am. At gurudwaras, churches and mosques in the city the crowds that showed up suggested that these places of worship were sorely missed during Covid lockdowns.
At the Dagdusheth temple, state minister Dattatray Bharane performed an aarti in the morning and temple was decorated with flowers. Social distancing and sanitising of hands was in place. “We are taking utmost safety precautions for the public who are coming for darshan. A distance is maintained between two devotees in the queue. Also, no offerings allowed inside the temple,” said Mahesh Suryvanshi, treasurer, Dagdusheth Ganpati mandal.
Similarly at Tambadi Jogeshwari temple, a prominent temple in Pune, crowds were witnessed throughout the day. “We have come from Junnar on the first day of Navratri. For the last several months temples were closed and now as they have opened we decided to take come on the first day,” said worshipper Sangeet Vyavahare.
At the Chaturshrungi temple on Senapati Bapat road, a worship centre of choice for the faithful during Navratri, barricading and social distancing was in place. The main temple is located on top of the small hill and people have to climb 300 steps to get to it.
