With the Maharashtra government allowing the re-opening of religious places, the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi is set to welcome devotees on Monday after seven months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Temple Trust has come out with a list of SoPs to ensure the safety of the devotees. Now, devotees will have to book their darshan time slot online before visiting the premises and also will have to undergo RT-PCR tests at the temple gates.
The temple management told ANI that visitors will be allowed only after making a booking online for a specific time slot.
"We are glad that the government has allowed us to open after so many months. Devotees who want to visit will have to do online booking to get a time-slot for the 'darshan'. Along with this, people will also have to show a COVID-negative RT-PCR result at the gate. Children aged eight to ten won't be allowed," a representative of the temple management said.
"We have made arrangements to control the crowd at the temple. People will be allotted time slots online for visit. Only 6,000 people will be allowed to enter the temple in a day. The temple will only remain open for 14 hours," the representative added.
Here is the full list of SoPs:
The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust will only allow 6,000 devotees per day.
Devotees who want to visit will have to do online booking to get a time-slot for the 'darshan'.
Devotees will have to undergo RT-PCR tests at the temple gates.
Wearing face masks will be mandatory for every devotee along with following necessary social distancing protocol.
Facilities for sanitation, thermal screening, and foot washing will be arranged in the darshan queue.
Senior citizens, children, and pregnant women will not be allowed to enter the temple.
