The festive season in India has kick-started with Mahalaya in West Bengal. Celebrated at the end of Shradh or Pitru Paksha, 16 days when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors, the day is celebrated by Bengalis across the globe with much fervour and zeal. However, due to a ‘mala mash’, a month, which has two new moons or ‘Amavasya’, this year Durga Puja will begin after 35-days of Subho Mahalaya.
Thousands of people performed tarpan, a ritual offering prayers to departed ancestors on Mahalaya, at the ghats along River Hooghly on Thursday. People were seen violating safety guidelines as most of them did not even bother to wear masks and use the sanitising channels while entering the ghats. People in West Bengal traditionally wake up early morning on Mahalaya in a bid to make offerings to divine entities as per Vedic practice remembering their forefathers and their departed souls.
Amid announcements of maintaining physical distancing guidelines made by the Kolkata Police and disaster management teams, the rituals were performed, at a time when the daily figures of coronavirus cases reached an all-time high in India.
Meanwhile, puja organisers in Kolkata have come up with a set of guidelines on how the week-long festival that starts around October 22 could be held amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Here are the expected guidelines for Durga Puja 2020 amid the COVID pandemic:
- The pandal will have sanitiser tunnels for entry and exit and it will be opened from three sides.
- The devotees who want to enter the pandals must put masks and carry sanitiser along with them.
- The idols will be on an elevated platform so that people can see without entering the marquee area.
- There will be minimum lighting so that people don’t gather only at night to see the elaborate lighting.
- The height of pandal and idol will be smaller. This will ease sanitisation of the pandal and idol at least once a day. There will be special sanitisation facilities for visitors on Saptami, Asthami and Navami when the crowd is humungous.
- Food stalls will be erected with a gap of at least 3-4 feet between them. No one will be allowed to sit. Only takeaways will be allowed.
