SANGAM (PRAYAGRAJ): At the stroke of dawn on ‘paush purnima’ on Monday, when most of north India will remain ensconced in warm quilts to brave the Jan chill, more than 1 crore devotees will converge on the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati here and take a holy dip in a mass manifestation of devotion, penance and asceticism to mark the beginning of Maha Kumbh – the world’s largest congregation of mankind.
The spiritual sojourn will continue till February 26. Over 4 crore devotees are set to take the holy dip in the first two days. Over 35 lakh devotees reached Prayagraj by Sunday.
10,000-acre land near Sangam given facelift, 8 permanent ghats created
UP CM Yogi Adityanath said Maha Kumbh “offers a unique experience to understand and witness India’s spiritual heritage”.
Prayagraj has undergone a massive makeover with every renovated crossroad illuminated with vibrant lights to welcome a sea of humanity. The roads’ aesthetics have been enhanced through the strategic placement of more than 3 lakh plants and 1 lakh horticultural saplings, creating a visually pleasing environment. Most of the roads leading to Sangam were dazzling with welcome signs and LED butterfly lights on electric poles.
This time, it will be an extended start for Maha Kumbh as two snan days, ‘paush purnima’ and ‘makar sankranti’, fall back to back on Monday and Tuesday. While ‘kalpvas’, the month-long stay of the devotees on the Sangam, will begin on Monday, the first of the three ‘amrit snan’ — the holy dip by nagas, seers and akharas — will take place on Tuesday. The cumulative footfall on the first two days is expected to be more than 4 crore.
The other two ‘amrit snan’ days are ‘mauni amavasya’ on Jan 29 and ‘basant panchami’, on Feb 3. On Jan 29, which is considered the most auspicious of the days, more than 5 crore are expected to take the holy bath. The ‘kalpvas’ will culminate on Feb 12 with ‘maghi purnima’.
Over 10,000-acre land near the Sangam has been given a facelift and eight permanent ghats have been created, over and above the existing temporary ones, to make it the biggest-ever religious event. Over 1.6 lakh tents have been erected to accommodate devotees in the mela area, which is officially now the 76th district of the state and has already been declared a no-vehicle zone till Tuesday.
Following the CM’s directives, arrangements have been made to shower flowers on devotees on major snan days, said DM, Maha Kumbh Mela, Vijay Kiran Anand.
On Tuesday, the seers of Shri Panchayati Akhara Mahanirvani and Sri Panchayathi Atal Akhara will start the ‘amrit snan’ by taking a holy dip at Sangam at 6.15am. It will be followed by other 11 akharas in a sequence that will continue till 4.20pm. Their timing has been kept in such a manner that one akhara would reach the Sangam nose, which has been expanded by 2 hectares to accommodate 2 lakh additional devotees, only after departure of the previous group.
Over next two months, Railways will operate around 13,000 trains to serve the pilgrims during the Mela period, including 10,100 regular trains and around 3,134 special trains. Besides, UPSRTC will deploy over 7,000 buses, including 350 shuttle buses designed specifically for navigating the fair area. This extensive bus network will connect pilgrims to Prayagraj, allowing easy access from various locations across UP and beyond.