Mahakumbh: Devotee count crosses 45-cr mark
Devotees at Prayagraj's Mahakumbh crossed 45 crore, with 55 crore expected by event's end. Security measures are heightened for the upcoming Maghi Purnima.
The devotees’ footfall attending the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj crossed 45-crore (450 million) mark on Tuesday—a day ahead of the fifth bathing festival of Maghi Purnima on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Uttar Pradesh government said that nearly 55 crore people were expected to visit Prayagraj by the end of the mega event. As per records, till 8pm on Monday, a total 44.75 crore devotees had taken the holy dip with 1.17 crore, including around 10 lakh Kalpvasis, bathing on Monday itself.
By 10 am on Tuesday, 74.96 lakh had bathed in the Ganga which increased to 95.58 lakh by 2pm, 1.09 crore by 4pm and 1.23 crore by 6 pm. The 45-day mega religious event, which started with Paush Purnima bathing on January 13, will conclude with last bathing of Maha Shivratri on February 26.
Meanwhile, preparations have been completed for the fifth bathing festival of Maghi Purnima on Wednesday. The bathing will also mark completion of a month-long Kalpvas for over 10 lakh pilgrims observing austerity on Sangam banks.
The Kalpvas commenced on January 13 with the first official bathing of Paush Purnima. After the Maghi Purnima bathing, nearly 10 lakh Kalpvasis would leave the mela area. As per official estimates, over 2.5 crore devotees are likely to take the holy dip on Wednesday.
“Strict security arrangements have been made for ensuring smooth bathing with teams of UP Police as well as paramilitary forces, including CISF, CRPF and BSF etc, manning all entry and exit points of the mela besides all the 48 bathing ghats round the clock,” said DIG (Mahakumbh) Vaibhav Krishna.
“Teams of security personnel have also been placed at strategic locations to ensure that devotees’ movement is smooth,” he added. In a post on ‘X’, police commissioner, Prayagraj, Tarun Gauba said the state government and the UP police were determined to provide a smooth experience to the devotees visiting Mahakumbh.
“Plans were made for smooth traffic movement months ago, which we are successfully implementing. In view of the arrival of large number of vehicles, usually on weekends, whatever a difficult situation arose, it has been successfully resolved by the administrative and police officers deployed here through tireless efforts,” he added.
“Traffic is smooth on all roads leading to the fair area and there is no such traffic jam like situation inside the city as well,” the cop said.
He appealed to all devotees to park their vehicles in the parking lots on their route and not try to come close to Sangam through Google map service as there are different arrangements for different routes. “We are working day and night so that the devotees do not face any problem and the traffic also runs smoothly,” Gauba said.
He further said along with the help of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and artificial intelligence (AI) enabled cameras, inputs were being received from toll booths of nearby districts about traffic density on different routes so that proper arrangements could be made on those routes.
The police commissioner also appealed to devotees to not spread misinformation or rumours on social media regarding traffic related challenges.
Meanwhile, DIG (Mahakumbh) Vaibhav Krishna and SSP (Mahakumbh) Rajesh Dwivedi took stock of the situation on Tuesday and instructed to maintain 24x7 vigil on every part of the mela through network of CCTV cameras and drones installed at strategic locations.
Through the public address system, devotees were also being continuously appealed to bathe at designated ghats and use designated routes for reaching and leaving the mela area.
Like before, the mela administration has arranged showering of petals on devotees bathing in mela area through a helicopter from 8am on Wednesday.
The ‘Muhurat’ (auspicious timing) for the Maghi Purnima bathing will commence at 6:30 pm on Tuesday and will continue till 6:41 pm on Wednesday.
According to Dr Diwakar Tripathi Purvanchali, director, Utthan Jyotish Sansthan, the Purnima Tithi would commence on Wednesday with ‘Shlesha Nakshatra’ and ‘Saubhagya Yoga’ will prevail, which would enhance ‘Punya Yog’ of the festival. Also, the moon will transit in its zodiac sign ‘Cancer’ resulting in formation of a beautiful eclipse yoga on Maghi Purnima.
Meanwhile, with a view to ensuring better management of proceedings on Maghi Purnima, ADG (law and order) Amitabh Yash closely monitored the traffic movement in and around Prayagraj all through the day on Tuesday.
Also, a team of 52 senior officers, including four SPs, five ASPs, four IAS and 25 PCS rank officers, have been entrusted with the task of smooth management of the Maghi Purnima bathing.
Recommended Topics