45 days, 66.30 cr pilgrims: Mahakumbh ends on high note

IAF jets perform flypast over Sangam sky, pilgrims greeted with multiple rounds of rose petal showers as 1.53 crore take holy dip on final day, CM keeps close vigil on proceedings on Mahashivaratri from control room in Gorakhpur

The 45-day Mahakumbh, the world’s largest religious gathering, came to an end at the Sangam with the sixth and last bathing festival of Mahashivaratri on Wednesday. The overall turnout of pilgrims during the course of the Mela stood at 66.30 crore (663 million), according to the government. As many as 1.53 crore devotees took a dip at the Triveni Sangam on final day (till 8pm on Wednesday), according to official figures.

A helicopter showers flower petals on devotees gathered at Triveni Sangam to take a dip on the occasion of the Maha Shivratri during the ongoing 'MahaKumbh Mela 2025' in Prayagraj on Wednesday. (ANI)

Fighter jets as well as transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force performed a flypast as part of a special air show over the Sangam sky on Wednesday afternoon to mark the finale on a high note.

The mega event had taken off on January 13 (Paush Purnima Snan). Before the commencement of the Mela, the initial official expectation was that 45 crore (450 million) devotees, the highest ever till date in Kumbh history, would take part in the Mahakumbh.

The global event witnessed nationals of several countries visiting the religious fair. Many of them bathed in holy waters and took deeksha (spiritual initiation) of Sanatan Dharma.

From the early hours of Wednesday, devotees in large numbers kept pouring in all through the day for the holy dip.

The muhurat (auspicious period) for bathing began at 9.19 am on Wednesday and will end at 8.09 am on Thursday.

Pilgrims started to bathe from midnight. As per official records, at 2am on Wednesday, 11.66 lakh was the bathers’ count which swelled to 25.64 lakh at 4am, 41.11 lakh at 6am, 60.12 lakh at 8am, 81.09 lakh at 10 am and 1.01 crore at 12 noon.

The count of bathers reached 1.18 crore at 2pm, 1.32 crore at 4pm, 1.44 crore at 6pm and 1.53 crore at 8pm. The total for the 45-day period stood at 66.30 crore pilgrims, according to official figures.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath kept a close vigil on the proceedings on Mahashivaratri from a control room set up in Gorakhpur from early on Wednesday.

The pilgrims bathing at Sangam were greeted with multiple rounds of rose petal showers all through the day.

Uttar Pradesh director general of police Prashant Kumar said, “Today, the Mahakumbh is in its final stage. In these 45 days in Prayagraj, more than 65 crore people took the holy dip. Our colleagues have won everyone’s heart by their conduct without any weapons, the full capability of the police was tested here, everyone lived up to it and we completed the entire Mahakumbh without any major incident. During the Mela, we reunited more than 30 thousand lost and found people with their families.”

During the mega fair, 120 quintals of rose petals were showered on pilgrims at six major snans, including three Amrit Snans of Makar Sankranti (January 14), Mauni Amavasya (January 29) and Basant Panchami (February 3), with 20 quintals used on each occasion.

Mahakumbh Nagar district magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand said the sixth and last bathing day of Mahashivaratri proceeded smoothly on Wednesday and marked the end of the Mahakumbh.

However, as the muhurat will continue till a little after 8 am on Thursday, all deployments for benefit of pilgrims will remain in place.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will formally announce the conclusion of the fair at a function in the Mela area on Thursday with various events, Anand said.