Walkway to address Sai devotees' woes
Travelator, attached to temple road, to allow 25,000 people to get darshan at a time
In order to ferry devotees to the Sai Baba shrine at the Shirdi temple with ease, the Shri Sai Sansthan Trust (SSST) has decided to install a moving walkway or travelator worth Rs60 crore. The walkway is slated to be ready for use in a year's time.
Renowned architect Hafeez Contractor has prepared the design for the moving walkway, which is generally used at airports.
The proposed travelator will be attached to the temple road and will allow 25,000 devotees at one time to stand on the automated walkway and take darshan. Devotees can choose between either using the walkway or walk to the shrine.
During festival season, the crowd of devotees arriving at the shrine often becomes unmanageable, leading to chaos. To resolve this issue, the authorities were forced to install a temporary shed for devotees. Devotees breaching the queue is a matter taken quite seriously. "The travelator will help lower the chances of a stampede and rescue operations will be carried out much faster in case of a fire. The physically-challenged will find this to be a major relief since they always struggle for a darshan on the crowded premises. We will able to provide all the basic amenities, such as water and toilets," said Contractor, adding that the proposal is still in the primary stage.
The Sai Baba temple in Shirdi is the second richest temple in India. Over 1 lakh devotees visit the Sai shrine every day. On holidays and during the weekends, this number soars up to five lakh and on festivals, it reaches almost eight lakh. Most of the devotees are from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The shrine has been attracting devotees from abroad as well.
Jayant Sasane, chairman, SSST, said, "On almost 100 days of the entire year, people have to wait in the queue for six to eight hours for a darshan of the deity. Devotees include the physically-challenged, children and senior citizens, pregnant women and the ailing. For them it's a very difficult to stand in the queue for a long time. The proposed travelator will resolve this issue."
Travelator, attached to temple road, to allow 25,000 people to get darshan at a time
In order to ferry devotees to the Sai Baba shrine at the Shirdi temple with ease, the Shri Sai Sansthan Trust (SSST) has decided to install a moving walkway or travelator worth Rs60 crore. The walkway is slated to be ready for use in a year's time.
Renowned architect Hafeez Contractor has prepared the design for the moving walkway, which is generally used at airports.
The proposed travelator will be attached to the temple road and will allow 25,000 devotees at one time to stand on the automated walkway and take darshan. Devotees can choose between either using the walkway or walk to the shrine.
During festival season, the crowd of devotees arriving at the shrine often becomes unmanageable, leading to chaos. To resolve this issue, the authorities were forced to install a temporary shed for devotees. Devotees breaching the queue is a matter taken quite seriously. "The travelator will help lower the chances of a stampede and rescue operations will be carried out much faster in case of a fire. The physically-challenged will find this to be a major relief since they always struggle for a darshan on the crowded premises. We will able to provide all the basic amenities, such as water and toilets," said Contractor, adding that the proposal is still in the primary stage.
The Sai Baba temple in Shirdi is the second richest temple in India. Over 1 lakh devotees visit the Sai shrine every day. On holidays and during the weekends, this number soars up to five lakh and on festivals, it reaches almost eight lakh. Most of the devotees are from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The shrine has been attracting devotees from abroad as well.
Jayant Sasane, chairman, SSST, said, "On almost 100 days of the entire year, people have to wait in the queue for six to eight hours for a darshan of the deity. Devotees include the physically-challenged, children and senior citizens, pregnant women and the ailing. For them it's a very difficult to stand in the queue for a long time. The proposed travelator will resolve this issue."
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