NASHIK: The extended holidays have added to the concerns of the Lord Trimbakeshwar temple authorities due to the increasing crowd. They are finding it difficult to implement social distancing norms at the temple and Kushavarta tirth even though the management has made elaborate health and safety arrangements for the devotees.
Due to the holidays, hundreds of pilgrims have flocked to Lord Trimbakeshwar temple for darshan. Meanwhile, the temple management has to work hard to maintain the sanitation at the temple, and it is becoming difficult to manage the crowd while implementing social distancing guidelines.
As part of the planning by the temple authorities, the devotees who reach the temple premises in a queue at the east gate of the temple are being stopped for some time to ensure social distancing, sanitisation. Earlier on the day, for some time, the main gate was closed in the afternoon, and the donation drive had to be put on hold. Nets have been set up at these places to prevent any intrusion at Kushavarta tirth. T
aking a holy dip in Kushavarta is banned. One can take a bath with a bucket of tirth water on the side steps. A ‘dharmadarshan’ queue at the east door of Trimbakeshwar temple, and a special facility to take darshan at Mahadwar has been facilitated with an entry fee of Rs 200 per devotee.
It will be necessary to plan for maximum number of devotees to allow entry into the sanctum sanctorum. For this purpose, it will be feasible if the time of darshan in Trimbakeshwar temple is extended by one hour in the morning and at night. Devotees in the meantime have demanded that Trimbakeshwar Mandir Trust should provide mahaprasad facility at low rates or free food for the devotees arriving from distant places.
