In an order, authorities at the Shirdi Sai Baba temple have appealed the devotees to avoid wearing short or revealing clothes inside the temple premises. The temple authorities have also put up a notice regarding the same on the temple notice board. According to the order, devotees (both men and women) will not be allowed to enter the temple premises in revealing or short clothes. Attires that won’t be allowed inside the temple would include half pants, bermuda shorts, frocks, minis, etc.
The authorities have also said devotees wearing extremely tight clothes will also be stopped at the entrance. The rule mandating decent clothes for devotees was in the pipeline for long, which has now finally been implemented.
The Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi reopened on November 16, 2020 after being closed for more than seven months, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As per the temple management, visitors will be allowed only after making a booking online for a specific time slot.
Religious places in the state have remained shut in Maharashtra since the lockdown announced in March. Though there were demands made by the opposition parties and some religious groups to reopen the temples, the Maharashtra government was waiting for the coronavirus cases in the state to subside.
Along with the Shirdi temple, other religious places too reopened in Maharashtra on the same day.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government said the decision was taken as the number of corona patients is low.
The rules will be the same for all the religious places. The use of masks, sanitizers would be mandatory and social distancing is very important, said Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Jayant Patil.