Shirdi Sai Baba Temple in Maharashtra reopens with restrictions from Oct 7

Mumbai: Keeping in mind about the Navratri festival, the Maharashtra government has announced to reopen the famous Shirdi Sai Baba Temple from October 7 (tomorrow).

However, considering the covid-19 situation in the country the temple administration will allow entry to devotees with adherence to safety protocols.  The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust has made the provision of online window to prevent the spread of covid-19. The devotees who are willing to visit the temple can now book the slots through online mode. The devotees can even book the aarti via online. While the morning aarti costs Rs 600, the madhyam aarti, dhoop aarti, shej aarti will cost Rs 400.

Few guidelines issued by the trust that has to be followed during the Navaratri festival are:

• On a daily basis 15,000 devotees is to be allowed in the Shirdi Saibaba temple.
• The temple will issue 5,000 paid passes along with 5,000 online passes. The remaining 5,000 passes for the devotees will be made available offline.
• A total of 1,150 devotees will be allowed to be inside the premises of the temple premises in an hour.
• When the aarti is performed, maximum of 90 people will be allowed inside the temple
• The entry inside the temple will be through entrance number 2. On the other hand the exit will be facilitated through gates numbers 4 and 5.
• The Dhyan Mandir and Parayan Kaksh will remain closed for the devotees during the period.

The temple management has prohibited the entry of children below the age of 10 years during Navaratri. The other people who are not allowed to visit are pregnant women, sick people and citizens above 65 years.

The renowned Shirdi Sai Baba temple was one among the religious places in Maharashra which were closed in view of the second wave of covid pandemic this year. However, last month the state government announced the reopening of religious places.

Also read: Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak temple to reopen from October 7