India Post News Service
HARARE: Celebrations of upcoming major Hindu festivals in October and November have been cancelled in Harare (Zimbabwe) due to Covid-19.
According to an announcement of The Hindoo Society Harare (HSH); traditional celebrations of upcoming festivals of Navratri, Sharad Poonam, Diwali and BestuVarsh have been cancelled in the interest of the safety and well-being of the community.
Two Hindu temples in Harare, run by HSH, which had been closed for few months due to Covid-19, opened again on September 26 with various protocols.
Temperature of each person entering the premises of the Hindoo Society will be taken and hands will be sanitized at the entrance. Individuals with a temperature not in the permissible range (36.1 °C to 37.2 °C) will be denied entry, an announcement of HSH Executive Committee stated at their opening.
Wearing of masks is compulsory and visitors will be required to give their names and contact numbers at the entrance and abide by the tape demarcations to observe social distancing (minimum two meters) within the temple. Any person refusing to follow the procedures will be required to leave the premises, the announcement added.
Ridgeview Shree Omkar Mandir will be open daily from 6 am 07:30 pm, while Cameron Street Shree Omkar Mandir will be open daily from 7:30 am to noon. Mandir (Temple) will be disinfected daily by a professional company, per the announcement.
Commending HSH for attempting necessary precautions and actions to combat deadly coronavirus and educating the community RajanZed President of Universal Society of Hinduism, suggested Hindus to pray at least twice daily in their home shrines with total devotion and pure heart.
Cameron Street Shree Omkar Mandir celebrated 90th anniversary in February 2019, while 25th anniversary of Ridgeview Shree Omkar Mandir was observed in 2017. HSH “intends to publish a written record” of the hundred years of “community’s existence in Zimbabwe”.
Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.
