Home Department issues guidelines regarding Public Navratri Festival 2021
Home Department has issued guidelines regarding Public Navratri Festival 2021. While celebrating Navratri, all citizens are urged to take proper precautions from the point of view of health.
Navratra / Durga Puja / Dussehra festival will be celebrated from 7th to 15th October 2021. Although the second wave of the corona has subsided, the threat of corona still remains. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for a large number of citizens to gather and celebrate the festival. Guidelines have been issued in that regard.
Considering the contagious situation of Covid-19, the revised guidelines given by the Department of Revenue and Forest, Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation under “Break the Chain” should be strictly followed. For the public Navratri festival, the boards will have to get the prior permission of the Municipal Corporation / Local Administration as per their policy. Considering the contagious situation caused by Covid-19, a limited number of pavilions should be set up in line with the policy of the Municipal Corporation and the concerned local administration regarding pavilions.
This year’s Navratri festival should be celebrated in a simple manner and the idols of domestic and public goddesses should be decorated accordingly. The height of the idol of the goddess should be 4 feet for public circles and the height of the idol of the domestic goddess should be 2 feet. As in the previous year, instead of the idol of the Goddess, the idol should be worshipped on the metal/marble of the house. If the idol is shady / environmentally friendly, its immersion should preferably be done at home. If immersion cannot be done at home, coordination with local administration should be done regarding immersion at the artificial immersion site.
Donations for Navratri should be accepted voluntarily, it should be seen that the display of advertisements will not attract the crowd. Preference should also be given to display advertisements with health and social messages. Awareness should also be spread about the “My Family, My Responsibility” campaign. Garba, Dandiya and other cultural events should not be organized. Instead, priority should be given to conducting health-related activities/camps (e.g. blood donation) and thereby eradicating corona, malaria, dengue etc. Awareness should be spread about diseases and their preventive measures as well as hygiene.
Arrangements should be made to make the darshan of Goddess available online, through cable networks, websites and Facebook, etc., and all the instructions of the Public Health Department should be strictly followed in the case of devotees visiting the Goddess’s mandapa in person. There will be no crowds while conducting Aarti, Bhajan, Kirtan or other religious programs. Also, rules and regulations regarding noise pollution should be followed. No more than 5 workers should be present in the tent at a time. It is also strictly forbidden to provide food or drink in tents. Arrival and immersion processions of the Goddess should not be taken out. In the traditional method of immersion, the aarti performed at the place of immersion should be done at home and the time of immersion should be stopped at least. Children and senior citizens should avoid going to the immersion site for safety reasons. The procession of immersion of idols of all the household goddesses in the entire chali / building should not be taken out together.
Artificial ponds should be constructed with the help of the Municipal Corporation, various boards, housing societies, people’s representatives, NGOs etc. Also, to avoid crowds of citizens, the local administration should set up idol acceptance centres at the ward committee level and give maximum publicity in this regard.
If the premises of the domestic as well as public Navratri festival board is in a restricted area on the date of immersion, immersion of idols in public places will be prohibited.
The program of Ravana Dahan performed on the day of Dussehra should be done following all the rules. Only the minimum number of people required for Ravana Dahan will be present at the event. The audience should not be called. They should be arranged to watch the ceremony live through social media like Facebook.
In order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, it will be mandatory to comply with the rules prescribed by the Government Relief, Rehabilitation, Health, Environment, Medical Education Department as well as the concerned Municipal Corporation, Police and Local Administration. It is also mandatory to comply with any other instructions issued by the local administration after this circular and between the commencement of the actual celebration.
