Amid elaborate crowd management, 2 crore take dip of faith: Govt
Yogi keeps close watch, Mela administration and a team of senior officials ensures smooth movement of devotees and the easy exit of nearly a million kalpvasis from the Mahakumbh area
Amid an elaborate crowd management plan and extra vigil, the Maghi Purnima snan, the fifth major bathing day, was conducted successfully without incident at the Mahakumbh on Wednesday with 2 crore devotees taking the holy dip till 6pm, according to figures quoted by the government.
The Mela administration showered rose petals on the devotees bathing in the Mahakumbh area from a helicopter 8am onwards on Wednesday.
It was the second last major bathing day during the Mahakumbh-2025. The Maha Shivratri snan on February 26 will bring the curtain down on the mega event. The Mahakumbh had begun on January 13 with the Paush Purnima Snan. The other major bathing days were Makar Sankranti (January 14), Mauni Amavasya (January 29) and Basant Panchami (February 3).
The Mela administration, besides senior officials entrusted with the task of ensuring smooth movement of devotees and the easy exit of nearly a million kalpvasis from the Mela area, remained on their toes all through the day.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also kept a close vigil on the proceedings at his official residence in the state capital since the early hours on Wednesday.
Adityanath convened a meeting in the war room at his official residence in Lucknow, 5 Kalidas Marg, to closely monitor arrangements in Prayagraj on the occasion of the Magh Purnima Snan Parv.
Accompanied by DGP Prashant Kumar, principal secretary (home) Sanjay Prasad and CM Secretariat officials, Adityanath continuously reviewed live updates on TV and issued real-time instructions to ensure smooth execution of arrangements, as per a statement of the release.
Earlier, during Basant Panchami Amrit Snan, the CM had similarly held a war room meeting from 3:30am and closely monitored the event.
Additional director general of police (law and order) Amitabh Yash closely monitored traffic movement in and around Prayagraj all through the day on Wednesday. A team of senior officers, including four SPs, five ASPs, four IAS and 25 PCS rank officers, kept track of the arrival and departure of devotees from the Mela area.
Mahakumbh Nagar district magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand and DIG (Mahakumbh) Vaibhav Krishna kept reviewing the Mela proceedings at specially marked pressure points.
As the Maghi Purnima Snan marked the end of the sacred month-long stay, thousands of Kalpvasis bade an emotional farewell to the Mahakumbh, the world’s largest spiritual and cultural gathering, held on the holy banks of the Sangam in Prayagraj. With the break of the dawn on Maghi Purnima, the Kalpvasis took their final dip in the Triveni Sangam during the auspicious Brahma Muhurta before returning to their camps for concluding rituals. Guided by Tirtha Purohits, they performed sacred offerings, including ‘havan’ and various forms of charity.
The count of bathers kept rising with each passing hour on Wednesday. With the mahurat for the bathing having commenced on Tuesday evening itself, by 4am on Wednesday 48.83 lakh had taken the holy dip, which increased to 73.60 lakh till 6 am, 1.02 crore till 8 am, 1.30 crore till 10 am before reaching 1.59 crore at 12noon, 1.83 crore at 2pm, crossing the 1.94 crore mark by 4pm and 2 crore by 6pm, according to official data.
The mahurat (auspicious timing) for the Maghi Purnima bathing commenced at 6:55 pm on Tuesday and continued till 7:22 pm on Wednesday.
The Prayagraj city roads were free of traffic snarls as devotees took the one-way route for arriving and departing from the Mela area.
Crowds of devotees carrying belongings on their heads from Mahatma Gandhi Marg trekked towards the Sangam from Tikonia and GT Jawahar Square to bathe in the sacred waters. Those returning after the bath, took the Triveni Marg via Fort Road crossing, Alopi Bagh, Jawahar Lal Nehru road, passing through Indian Press crossing and Hindu Hostel crossing before reaching Johnstanganj to head towards Prayagraj Junction via Leader Road.
The pressure of devotees arriving at Sangam from Varanasi also kept on rising leading to crowd pressure in Jhunsi area.
The crowd pressure posed a challenge for the security personnel, particularly at 10 am, outside Jhunsi station and on the road leading to Shastri Bridge.
As the Mela area was declared a no vehicle zone, vehicles of administrative and police officers were also seen in limited numbers, making it easy for pilgrims walking towards as well as away from the Sangam.
Repeated announcements all through the day cautioned devotees to strictly abide by zonal bathing plan, wherein devotees were asked to bathe at ghats in their respective sectors and not cross over to the Sangam area.
Anticipating a massive influx of devotees on Maghi Purnima, Variable Messaging Displays (VMDs) were activated across the Mela area, providing real-time guidance and instructions to pilgrims. These displays played a crucial role in assisting devotees, ensuring a smooth and organised bathing experience at the Triveni Sangam.
Hemvati Devi, 74, who had come from Ghazipur, said wanted to bathe in the Sangam waters during the month of Magh. She kept herself updated with the crowd position in the Mela area and mustered courage accordingly to arrive in tent city on Wednesday.
Rakesh Srivastava, Pradeep Sinha and Mahendra Sinha, who arrived from Jaunpur, said that earlier they had thought that they would take the holy dip before Maha Shivratri but the thought of the auspicious month of Magh pulled them to Mahakumbh on Wednesday.
The Mela administration had made arrangement for 25 quintals of rose petals. Similar arrangements had been made on the previous four bathing festivals at the 45-day Mahakumbh 2025.
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