Devotees take dip at Har Ki Pauri after places of religious worship allowed to open
Religious sites in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand have opened for the devotees following the unlock 1 guidelines. Devotees are being given entry into the temple along with rules in Haridwar and other cities including Rishikesh. On the first day, a huge crowd was not seen at Har ki pauri. A limited number of devotees reached the darshan and took a dip of faith in the holy river Ganga. At present, pilgrims coming from outside are not allowed. With this, the government has left the task of restarting the Chardham Yatra with the Chardham Devasthanam board. The Board will take a decision on opening the conditional Chardham Yatra after holding talks with the concerned district administration and the rightful holders. During this time, appropriate precautionary measures will be taken to protect the health of the common people. Protocol will also be fixed for prayers.
In Uttarakhand, except for the Dehradun Municipal Corporation area and all the Containment Zones in different districts, the rest of the state has started opening places of worship after a lockdown of two and a half months. Apart from Har ki Pauri in Haridwar, special preparations were made for the worship in addition to sanitizing the temples like Mansa Devi, Chandi Devi, Maya Devi, Bilkeshwar Mahadev, Daksheshwar Mahadev, etc.
Special arrangements have been made by the temple committees to ensure the devotees visiting the temples strictly adhere to the physical standards, including physical distance. Without masks, devotees are not allowed entry. Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Swami Awadheshanand Giri Maharaj of Juna Akhara told the reporters that after all the instructions have been followed for worshiping at the Shrimaya Devi temple.
Devotees take a dip of faith
After the permission to open the religious places, the process of the pilgrims coming for a bath at Har ki Pauri in Haridwar has started. A limited number of devotees arrived here on the first day and took a dip of faith. During this time everyone was also screened, only after which they were allowed.
Ganga aarti will start again
No religious ritual has been officially started at Har ki Pauri yet. The reason for this is being told that the District Magistrate Haridwar has not yet issued the guideline in this matter. However, the local people have started taking bath by reaching Har ki Pauri. But their number is very limited.
Shri Ganga Sabha General Secretary Tanmay Vashisht said that due to non-release of guidelines by the District Magistrate, Har ki pauri was offered symbolic worship was done in the morning as before. He said that this will be done in detail after the guidelines are released. The officials of Shri Ganga Sabha, the executive organization of Har ki Pauri, will again launch the Ganga Aarti in public with special Ganga Pujan.
