Festive spirit shaken, not Broken!
2 min readShimla, Oct.7
The year 2020 heralded the times of uncertainty and chaos for all with pandemic engulfing the whole world. In March when Lockdown was announced in India, the Navratri festival was right across the corner, people hoped that in October they will see better days but unfortunately life still could not get back on the normal track.
Though temples have been opened with SOPs, and everywhere prasad and charnamit have been replaced by Thermal scan and sanitizers, the festive spirit seems to have taken a hit.
“It was for the first time in my life that temple gates were closed during such auspicious times and we hoped that October will be different but again there’s nothing same about the festival as before”, shared Sudershan Kumar, a devotee.
Yet another attraction for the season Ram Leela too has gone missing as informed by Shimla District Public Relations Officer Sanjay Sood that no cultural group has sought permission to organize Ram Leela performance in the town and district so far. There is no information that any Ram Leela troupe is currently performing owing to Covid, he added.
The Kalibari temporary roadside market is missing which was always the main center of attraction for all. Apart from that devotees are unable to give offerings in temples; because of which many are feeling disappointed.
Famous Durga Pooja that brought a different kind of zeal to these nine days is also going to be missed by all as informed my Dr. Parmarik Kalibari temple committee member “This year there will be only Kalash Pooja without idols as due to Covid, the artisan could not come to Shimla and it was not possible to get idols made.”
This time some people out of fear are not paying homage to temples but for many power of devotion is weighing heavy over love for their lives as even aged people can also be seen standing in the long queue for their turns. Apart from that the beggers too can be seen lined up with a hope to get some alms from the passerby.