At the moment where opposition leaders are protesting against the closures of worship places, the government is asking to show some patience. The gathering of people at Churches, Gurdwaras, Mandirs, and Mosques is prohibited. The religious rite may bring peace and prosperity but if we observe the current situation, we have a very colossal problem.
We have seen whenever people are holding a religious gathering that has spread the COVID exponentially due to these congregations. Health is everything and we can do these activities after the end of this pandemic. When most people and the States of India are gripped by the fear of contracting the Covid-19 virus is the best way to stay away from crowded areas and in particular the Indian worship places as of the present scenario.
In Mumbai many religious leaders modified their rituals, hoping to contain the spread of coronavirus. Not only that but the temples and other religious worshipping places are closes for an indefinite time period. Mumbai is taking more drastic measures, cancelling worship services, closing religious places, and closing holy sites.
Government and temple trust believes that the public gathering can create hindrance in protecting people from the spread of coronavirus. In Mumbai big temples like Mahalakshmi, Mumbadevi and Siddhivinayak have remained closed. Even the churches and mosques are closed for public prayers. Gurudwaras shut their doors for worshipers but they are doing their social services.
Millions of Muslims visit the Saudi kingdom around the year for the Hajj pilgrimage.
The current travel restrictions prevent the entry of both overseas pilgrims and Saudi citizens into the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. This has had a direct impact on the umrah pilgrimage, known as the “lesser pilgrimage,” which can be performed at almost any time of the year. Whether or not the restrictions will extend to the hajj, which begins around July 28, can be known only after it becomes clear how long the coronavirus outbreak will last. Both the umrah and hajj are important pilgrimages for Muslims, but they differ in many respects.
For many Muslim men, group prayers on Friday are a religious obligation. But as congregations across the country and the world weighed whether to stay open, experts in Islamic law stepped in. Together with Muslim medical experts, the society strongly recommended that congregations take precautions against the pandemic, including immediately suspending congregational prayers and other community gatherings.
Other than religious places, the city had closed all malls, gyms and movie theatres, sports leagues, museums, and other cultural institutions, after the recent relaxation, some places are opened for those who have taken a complete dose of vaccines.
In the meantime, opposition leaders in Maharashtra may not like getting temple doors closed, but one needs to understand that saving human lives is bigger worship. God is going to be in his places even if you return after ages but once safety is guaranteed when gatherings are controlled.
Interestingly, the temple trusts across India silently doing their jobs by rendering help towards mankind. Two prominent temple trusts in Maharashtra donated Rs 51 crore and Rs 2 crore to the government for providing various kinds of reliefs in the ”war against virus” in the state. The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi (Ahmednagar) donated Rs.51 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
The Devasthan Management Committee, Kolhapur, which administers a string of temples, has announced a donation of Rs 2 crore through the famed Mahalaxmi Temple.
An amount of Rs 1.50 crore has been given to the CMRF, while Rs 50 lakh will go to the collector for enhancing various medical facilities in the district to tackle Coronavirus. Several other temples have come forward to donate to the fun for the Covid-19 war in the past few days, besides taking up other community initiatives. Gurudwaras, churches, and Mosques are doing their bit. Each and every religious trust is doing something or the other, without bothering about the closed doors of worship places. In such crises, politicians should behave responsible. Commoners should understand how important it is to stay safe.
