The ceremony and greatness Related to Navratri in Gujarat will be generally lost this year as the state government on Friday prohibited association of any ‘Garba’ occasion amid the upcoming celebration due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The government said it’ll not permit any sort of Garba occasion within the state during Navratri, beginning from October 17, and also discharged a set of rules for the happy season, which ordinarily sees huge social occasions, a prolific ground for COVID-19 spread.
Garba is a popular folk dance of Gujarat and is performed with passion and fervour during the Navratri festival.
The government, however, will allow collective prayers to Goddess Durga where the number of people should not be more than 200, it said in a release.
The time limit of prayers will be one hour, but nobody can perform garba at such gatherings, it said.
Prior permission of government authorities has been made mandatory for organisation of community prayer programmes during Navratri.