Devotees offer prayers at places of worship in Maharashtra

Prominent places of worship like Mumbadevi Mandir, Siddhivinayak temple, Mahim Church as well as both the Mahim and Haji Ali dargahs saw huge crowds of devotees

Six months after places of worship were closed down on account of the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic, devotees across religions were able to offer their prayers as part of a larger community on Thursday.

Mumbai, India - October 07, 2021: Devotees take the idol of Devi Dashama, which will be worshipped for the next 9 days during the Navratri festival, at Andheri, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, October 07, 2021. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Prominent places of worship like Mumbadevi Mandir, Siddhivinayak temple, Mahim Church as well as both the Mahim and Haji Ali dargahs saw huge crowds of devotees – including politicians – throng these places, even as the institutions adopted strict Covid-19 guidelines to prevent crowding and maintain physical distancing.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued orders on October 1 which reinforced the restrictions put in place by the state - no religious place was allowed to offer “prasad” or sprinkle holy water; devotees were to be allowed only in specific time slots; and all sites would be full up to only 50% capacity.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, accompanied by his family members, visited the Mumbadevi temple in South Mumbai on Thursday morning. He was followed by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and Water Resources minister Jayant Patil visited Siddhivinayak temple. Minority development minister Nawab Malik and port Development minister Aslam Shaikh went to Mahim and Haji Ali dargahs respectively.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 2681 Covid-19 new cases with 49 deaths. Mumbai’s tally of new cases was 453 with five deaths thus bringing its total death toll to 16,141. The total number of Covid-19 patients right from the outbreak last year has now reached 6,570,472. There were 147,320 tests done on Thursday while the number of recoveries clocked at 2,413. The total number of active patients in Maharashtra currently stands at 33,397 while the total number of deaths right from the Covid-19 outbreak has now reached 139,411.

There are currently 33,397 active patients across the state of which Pune tops with 8818 patients followed by Mumbai with 5711 active patients and Thane with 4156. The death toll has now reached 139,411 with Pune leading with 19,496 deaths followed by Mumbai with 16.141 and Thane with 11,383.