Places of worship reopen in Maharashtra
Worshippers out in force after a gap of nearly six months
Hundreds of thousands of devotees from all religions thronged places of worship which were thrown open yesterday after nearly six months in Maharashtra, as the threat of a Covid-19 third wave appeared to have receded, officials said.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, along with his wife Rashmi and son Aditya who is the state’s tourism minister, went to pray at the famed Mumbadevi Temple in south Mumbai, of the deity from whom the city gets is name.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, along with Nationalist Congress Party state president and minister Jayant Patil, prayed at the Shree Siddhivinayak Ganpati Temple in Prabhadevi.
The Iskcon temples at Chowpatty and Juhu, the Haji Ali Mausoleum in Worli, the Mount Mary Church in Bandra also attracted thousands for the first prayers after a long bout of closure.
Similar crowds were witnessed at the Shri Saibaba Temple in Shirdi and the Shaneshwar Temple in Shanishingnapur, both in Ahmednagar, the Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib gurudwara in Nanded, the Ashthavinayak Temple, the Mahalaxmi Temple, Haji Malang Dargah, the Trimbakeshwar Temple and Saptashringi Temple in Nashik, Jivdani Temple in Palghar, Jejuri Temple in Pune, and the Godiji
Parshwanath Jain Temple in Mumbai among others.