Places of worship in Maharashtra to reopen from Monday: Govt

Wearing masks while visiting religious places will be compulsory. Devotees have also been asked to avoid crowding.

The Maharashtra government on Saturday announced the reopening of all religious places from Monday. A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that Covid-appropriate behaviour, including wearing masks, must strictly be maintained while visiting the places of worships. All places of worship are closed for citizens since a lockdown was imposed in the third week of March to contain the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

A statement by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s office said that self-discipline will have to be maintained at these places. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The statement by the CMO added that self-discipline will have to be maintained at these places. “Footwear is kept outside the temples, but one must not forget mask will remain compulsory. There should not be any crowding in the places of worship,” the statement added.

”The people have maintained discipline in the fight against Covid-19, and therefore the situation in Maharashtra did not go out of hand as it happened in other states. During this time, not just Holi, Ganeshotsav, Navratri, Pandharpur Wari pilgrimage, but Eid, Mount Mary festival etc were also celebrated with discipline… But now on the Deepawali Padwa, the New Year [as per Hindu calender], the state government has decided to reopen all the places of worship,” it added.

The reopening of places of worship had become a major point of friction between the ruling combine and the principal opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP had made demands seeking reopening of temples and other places of worship after the Centre allowed reopening of religious places in its advisory in September. The party had held state-wide protests outside temples and had also threatened to open temples forcibly if no decision was taken by the government. Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, in a stinging letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray last month, asked his government to reopen places of worship.