MUMBAI: Sunday March 28 brings a confluence of three
festivals of different communities -- Holi, Shab E' Baraat and Palm Sunday which marks the start of Holy Week leading to Easter.
All communities have devised Covid-appropriate protocol for the occasion.
Neptune Society in
Thakur Village, Kandivli, has decided to forgo its annual Holi gathering in the compound. One resident Shekhar Batham said, "The children will play outside as usual, but the society party is cancelled. Several senior citizens live here and their health cannot be compromised. As it is, the society has seen sporadic cases of infection in the past months."
The intervening night of March 28-29 witnesses the holy festival of Shab E' Baraat when Muslims seek forgiveness for their sins and visit graveyards all night to pray for the redemption of their dear departed.
This year all mosques have made it mandatory to wear masks. Bada Kabrastan in
Marine Lines will close by 11.00pm.
Haji Ali dargah, the tomb of the holy saint, will also be off bounds from 10pm Sunday till 6am Monday.
At Friday prayer, the trustees of the Andheri Muslim Kabrastan Masjid at Four Bungalows, Andheri, also made an announcement urging people to complete their visit by 11.00pm. "We have requested people to follow the guidelines relayed to us by the local DN Nagar police," said trustee Atik Bhai Kashmiri.
Approximately 25,000-30,000 people arrive at this graveyard at Shab E' Baraat through the night until 5.30am. Trustee Atik Bhai said, "Even ordinarily it is very difficult to control the crowd. We must be more careful now due to the renewed Covid-19 outbreak."
Churches too will eschew or shorten rituals associated with Palm Sunday. Fr Frazer Mascarenhas, parish priest of St Peter's Church,
Bandra, said no palms will be distributed since these could be a source of infection. Palms will be used, however, at the masses that will be live streamed Saturday and Sunday.