COVID-19: No on-the-spot nod for darshan at Siddhivinayak temple from March

Siddhivinayak Temple. Pic/Satej Shinde

Considering the rise in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, the city's famous Siddhivinayak temple has decided not to give on-the- spot permission to devotees for taking darshan of Lord Ganesh from March 1, its office-bearers said on Friday.

Only those who have registered themselves online, will get a chance to take darshan, and only 100 such devotees will be allowed inside the temple per hour from next month, they said. Talking to PTI, Priyanka Chhapwale, chief executive officer of the Shri Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust said that at present, devotees who have not registered themselves for darshan, are given QR code on the spot, which allows them to go inside the temple. "But we have decided to stop this system completely from March 1.

The devotees without pre-booked appointment won't be allowed till further orders," she said. "Evey hour, only 100 devotees with pre-booked QR codes will be allowed to have darshan of the deity between 7 am and 9 pm," she added. Chhapwale said that on the auspicious day of Angarki Chaturthi (on March 2), darshan will be allowed between 8 am and 9 pm. The Siddhivinayak temple located in Prabhadevi area of the city is very popular. It was shut for devotees for several months last year due to the coronavirus outbreak. It was reopened in November 2020.

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