E-Paper
3 Akhadas to herald Mahakumbh 2021 on January 25
According to Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad general secretary Mahant Hari Giri Maharaj, the first bhoomi pujan will be performed at Juna Akhada on January 16.
By Sandeep Rawat
Announcement by three Akhadas of their arrival in Haridwar for Mahakumbh 2021 from January 25 has heralded the first major religious activity related to Mahakumbh 2021.
Shri Panch Dasnam Juna Akhada, Aahwan Akhada and Agni Akhada will be entering the Kumbh city on January 25 by carrying out a religious processions, installation of traditional Kumbh Dharma Dhwaja (flag) and worshipping at major shrines on the pathway.
Ramta Panch (the roaming ascetics) will be leading these Akhada processions which are a major attraction for pilgrims, tourists and locals, drawing crowds on both sides of the path through which the royal processions of Akhadas will pass through.
According to Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad general secretary Mahant Hari Giri Maharaj, who is also the international convener of Juna Akhada, the first bhoomi pujan will be performed at Juna Akhada on January 16 after which the holy flag will be installed which will remain throughout the Kumbh fair. After this ritual, the Akhada seers will start arriving in a religious procession from other parts of the country.
“Juna Akhada, Aahwan Akhada and Agni Akhada seers will be entering Uttarakhand from Najibabad side of Uttar Pradesh on January 25 and through the path, they will worship and offer rituals to deities, sacred Ganga, shrines of Mata Chandi Devi, Siddhpeeth Dakshin Kali, Gauri Shankar Mahadev, Mayadevi and Daksheshwar Mahadev, among others. The flag hoisting is done at Juna Akhada only by these three Akhadas,” said Mahant Hari Giri.
The Kumbh mela administration has also started preparing for the mega fair with infrastructural works being done in mela zone at a fast pace.
“Along with the mela officials, I have inspected the ongoing works at Akhadas. All the arrangements will be done in time before the flag hoisting event and the entry of Akhadas seers into Kumbh city,” said Mela officer-in-charge Deepak Rawat.
Akhada Parishad has also demanded waiver during Mahakumbh from mandatory verification of pilgrims coming from other states during Mahakumbh citing downfall in number of Covid-19 cases in Uttarakhand and across the country in the past few weeks.
To this, state urban development minister Madan Kaushik pointed that Kumbh fair is scheduled to be held in a grand fair though standard operating procedures regarding the spread of Covid-19 and a notification to be issued next month regarding the Mahakumbh fair will make the overall picture clearer.
While the state government and the Mela administration are taking this year’s Mahakumbh as a 48-day affair assuming core Kumbh fair from March 11 till April 27, Kumbh Mela Security Force administration is taking the mega fair as a 60-day event, also taking into account the tentative notification date issuance in late February.
"The arrival of security forces, their deployment, traffic plan need to be chalked out beforehand. By February 28, the state government will issue a notification for Kumbh. We are taking the mela as a 60-day affair from that very date itself," said Director General of Uttarakhand Police, Ashok Kumar.
