By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Jan. 26: Preparations for the month-long Shree Swasthani fasting at the Salinadi of Sankhu have completed, according to Shree Madhavnarayan Swasthani Fasting and Salinadi Management Committee.
“This year number of fasting number has been limited to 50 at the Salinadi of Shankharapur Municipality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of them, 15 will be men and 35 women devotees,” said Mijendra Kaji Shrestha, president of the committee.
In the past, over 200 devotees used to fast staying at the holy site, he added.
This year, it will be difficult to manage crowd of devotees in the month-long fair amidst the fear of COVID-19 pandemic, said Subarna Shrestha, Mayor of Shankarapur Municipality.
Maintaining social distance is another challenge to conduct the annual fair, Shrestha added.
“To minimise the unnecessary crowd of business vendors, we will not allow people except for locals to run businesses at the fair sites. We will make it mandatory for all shops to display the price list,” he said.
Mayor Shrestha said that a monitoring team would be mobilised at the site to manage the fair effectively.
Men, women and children observe fasting wishing for a prosperous life, perpetual luck and happiness of their families.
All devotees gather on the temple premises early in morning and take holy bath in the Salinadi daily for the whole month and worship Madhav Narayan (Lord Vishnu) in the midday.
Both married and unmarried women worship Shiva and observe fasting, praying for fulfillment of their wishes for a happy and prosperous conjugal life. Unmarried women worship Shiva and Parvati in the hope of getting ideal groom.
This year Salinadi fair is starting from January 28.