Prayagraj: The 45-day long Maha Kumbh, one of the largest spiritual and cultural congregation in the world, concluded with the final bathing festival on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivratri on Wednesday.
On the last day of the Maha Kumbh, a sea of devotees converged on the banks of Sangam to take a holy dip. The banks of Triveni Sangam, the confluence of holy Ganga, Yamuna and mystique Saraswati rivers, reverberated with the chants of 'Har Har Mahadev', 'Ganga Maiyya ki Jai' and 'Jai Shri Ram' as tight security arrangements were made to ensure seamless bath on Maha Shivratri.
The enthusiasm among the devotees could be gauged from the fact that more than 1.53 crore devotees took a holy dip in the Sangam waters till 8 pm. According to the official figures more than 66.30 crore devotees took advantage of the holy bath during the gala event.
The Uttar Pradesh government ensured an unforgettable experience for devotees by showering them with flowers from a helicopter on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivratri. Continuing its tradition from previous bathing festivals, the government arranged for 20 quintals of rose petals to be showered upon devotees at the Sangam Ghat. The floral shower began at 8 am, just as thousands of devotees were taking a dip at the sacred confluence.
Overwhelmed by the sight of rose petals raining from the sky, devotees chanted 'Jai Shri Ram,' 'Har Har Mahadev,' 'Ganga Maiya Ki Jai,' and 'Tirthraj Prayag Ki Jai' in reverence. Many expressed their gratitude towards the Yogi government, appreciating the grand gesture that honoured their faith.
Special attention was paid to the security and arrangements of the devotees reaching the Sangam banks in large numbers. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself monitored the holy bath from Gorakhpur.
Like all the past Amrit Snan and Snan Parv, a control room was set up for him in Gorakhnath temple itself, where he was seen monitoring the bathing festival every moment. He watched every feed of devotees bathing live on TV and directed the top officials from the control room itself.
As per the directives of CM Yogi, all the top officials also appeared alert, and they also took charge from the morning itself. Earlier, Yogi had also held a meeting with the officials in the war room since morning on the occasion of Basant Panchami and Magh Purnima Amrit Snan and kept monitoring.
The CM took stock of the entire situation in terms of security and arrangements for this important event of Maha Shivratri Snan festival. In Gorakhpur, he reached the control room located at Gorakhnath temple in the morning and kept monitoring the live feed of the bathing festival.
He directed the administrative and police officials that the devotees should not face any kind of inconvenience during the bath and all the arrangements should be kept in order.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) gave a grand salute to mark the conclusion of the Maha Kumbh during the final bathing festival of Maha Shivratri. As the deafening roar of fighter planes filled the skies over the Sangam, devotees looked up in awe, applauding with pride and enthusiasm.
The atmosphere resonated with chants of Jai Shri Ram, Har Har Gange, Har Har Mahadev, and slogans praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Excited by the breathtaking aerial display, devotees began capturing and sharing photos and videos of the air show on social media. According to an IAF official, the event was specially organised to salute the millions of devotees who had gathered for the Maha Kumbh.
This time the The Maha Kumbh drew devotees from every corner of the globe, with diplomats from 73 countries and guests, including Bhutan’s King Jigme Namgyel Wangchuk. More than 50 lakh devotees from Nepal, the land of Mata Janaki's maternal home, also participated.
Pilgrims from Italy, France, the UK, Portugal, the USA, Israel, Iran, Mauritius and numerous other nations arrived to witness this unparalleled spiritual event.
All the 13 Akharas participated in Maha Kumbh, who followed the tradition by taking holy dip in all the three Amrit Snans. Along with these 13 Akharas, their follower Akharas also participated, in which the follower Akhara of Juna Akhara, Kinnar Akhara, was the center of attraction.
These Akharas successfully conducted the initiation programs as per the tradition of Maha Kumbh. Various Akharas also made appointments on other posts including Mahamandaleshwar.
To make Maha Kumbh grand and divine this time, the Yogi government left no stone unturned. Maha Kumbh Nagar was settled in 4,000 hectares. The entire fair area was divided into 25 sectors. Many paved ghats were constructed in 12 km.
Parking was constructed in 1,850 hectares, while 31 pontoon bridges, more than 67,000 street lights, 1.5 lakh toilets and 25,000 public accommodations were ensured. More than Rs 7,000 crore were spent by the Yogi government, while with the help of the central government, the entire Prayagraj was transformed with a total of Rs 15,000 crore.
While more than 66 crore devotees gathered in 45 days, the maximum number was on Amrit Snan and Snan festivals. 1.70 crore devotees were recorded on Paush Purnima on January 13, 3.50 crore on Makar Sankranti on January 14, 7.64 crore on Mauni Amavasya on January 29, 2.57 crore on Basant Panchami on February 3, 2.04 crore on Magh Purnima on February 12 and more than 1.53 crore devotees were recorded on Maha Shivratri on February 26.
From 15 February to 26 February, there was not a single day when the number was less than one crore.
Everyone, whether common or special, took a dip in the Maha Kumbh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Draupadi Murmu, reached this mega event to take a holy bath. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also reached here and took a holy bath.
Apart from these, Chief Ministers, Governors, Union Ministers, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, LG and State Ministers of various states also reached Sangam and took a dip. Cabinet meetings of states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were also held in this Maha Kumbh.
Not only the ruling party, but the opposition leaders also did not miss taking a bath in Sangam. SP President Akhilesh Yadav came here to take bath with his entire team, while Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Mata Prasad Pandey also attained virtue by taking bath in Sangam in the beginning.
Apart from this, Himachal CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu reached here with his family, while Digvijay Singh, Sachin Pilot, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Rajiv Shukla, Dharmendra Yadav, MLAs, MPs and party president of Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab also took bath here and praised the arrangements.
Bollywood stars also came here and took bath in Sangam and expressed their faith in Sanatan Dharma. Many famous artists including Akshay Kumar, Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif, Pankaj Tripathi, Rajkumar Rao, Isha Gupta, Raveena Tandon, Vivek Oberoi, Anupam Kher, Hema Malini, Ravi Kishan, Tamannaah Bhatia and Sonali Bendre reached here.
Along with the actors, other artists from Bollywood including Remo D'Souza, Shaan, Kailash Kher, Shekhar Suman and Udit Narayan also made their presence felt here. Along with leaders and artists, the country's top industrialists also expressed their faith here and took a bath in the Sangam with full devotion.
Among them, the country's top industrialist Mukesh Ambani came here to take a bath with his entire family. Apart from this, Gautam Adani also paid his respects along with his family. Anil Ambani, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, Lakshmi Mittal, Anand Piramal and Ashok Hinduja also came here with their families.
Big names of various sports also became a part of the Maha Kumbh. Sunil Gavaskar, Suresh Raina, Khali, Saina Nehwal, Baichung Bhutia, Anil Kumble, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma not only took a holy dip in the confluence but also came here to receive the blessings of the saints.
This time the main attraction of Mahakumbh was Digital Mahakumbh. For the first time, along with the website of Maha Kumbh, an app was also launched. People were provided the facility to know about Maha Kumbh and visit it through AI chatbot.
For the first time, an MoU was signed with Google regarding navigation. Through the Digital Khoya Paya Kendra, thousands of people were successfully reunited with their families.
