17 January,2012 08:19 AM IST | | Nivedita Dargalkar
Temple authorities have asked prominent hotels in the area to refrain from selling food containing garlic, onion and potatoes on inaugural day; have also told shop owners to offer discounts to customers to mark the occasion
A few restaurants in Ghatkopar will adhere to conventional wisdom on January 21. Due to the opening ceremony of the Simandhar Swami Jain temple, temple authorities have requested restaurants from the area to abstain from selling any food products containing onion, garlic and potato. (Jain religion forbids consumption of these ingredients)
Marble marvel: The temple, a piece of intricate marble workmanship,
on which work commenced at the start of the millennium, contains a
33-inch statue that will be consecrated on January 21.
Pics/Sameer Markande
"We have approached Achija and Gurukripa restaurants and various other eateries in Ghatkopar (East). As a mark of courtesy, the management of Achija and Gurukripa restaurants have agreed to remain shut on the temple's inaugural day," said Pankaj Vora, a member of the temple working committee.
An appeal has also been sent by the temple working committee to the Deonar abattoir requesting them to refrain from slaughtering any animal on the auspicious day. Moreover, as part of the opening ceremony, temple authorities have convinced 250 shop owners in the area to offer customers special discounts on various items from January 14 to 22.
"Since we can't reach out to all the residents of Ghatkopar, we have requested various stores to provide discounts, ranging from 5 to 50 per cent, to their customers on the goods they sell. This way we will be able to make a lot of people happy," added Vora.
For God's sake: Achija, a popular eatery in Ghatkopar (East) will
remain closedu00a0 following the inauguration of the temple
Narayan Mogaveera, the cashier at Achija restaurant confirmed that the restaurant will remain closed on January 21 due to the inauguration of the temple. However, the owner of Gurukripa hotel Babusheth Shetty, remained unavailable for comment. The restaurant's manager Deepak Kumar refused to comment.
Meanwhile, General Manager of the Deonar abattoir, Pramod Dethe said, "As of now we have not received any request from the Simandhar Jain temple to keep the abattoir closed. If the directive comes to us from the BMC, we will act on the request."
Dethe further added that as per the directives of the BMC and the state government, the abattoir remains closed on 19 festive days during the year, five of which are of the Jain community.
