Mahakumbh 2025: Billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs, renamed ‘Kamala’, honours spiritual leader
Mahakumbh Mela 2025: Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of Steve Jobs, is attending the massive congregation in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, on Sunday, participated in a ceremony to honour a spiritual leader in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj ahead of Maha Kumbh. The billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist performed the ritual of pattabhishek of Vyasanand Giri Maharaj.
Dressed in a long white dress and an orange shawl, she was seen putting a shawl of the same colour on the spiritual leader and offering her prayers. The ceremony was held at Niranjani Akhara in Prayagraj.
Laurene Powell Jobs, 61, received a new name, "Kamala", before Maha Kumbh began. She will spend 17 days attending the massive congregation which is expected to see 400 million people. Powell Jobs will take a holy dip at the ‘Sangam’, the holy confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati,
On Saturday, she, along with spiritual leader Kailashanand Giri Maharaj of Niranjani Akhara, visited the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi.
"As per our Indian tradition, in Kashi Vishwanath, no other Hindu can touch the Shivling. That's why she was made to see the Shivling from outside... She will also stay in Kumbh and take a dip in Ganga," Kailashanand Giri was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Laurene Powell Jobs, who is the founder of investment and advocacy firm Emerson Collective, owns The Atlantic. She has a net worth of over $15 billion, according to Forbes.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc, died at the age of 56 in October 2011. He had travelled to India in mid-1974 to visit Neem Karoli Baba at his Kainchi ashram in Uttarakhand near Nainital with his Reed College friend and eventual Apple employee Daniel Kottke, searching for spiritual teachings.
Mahakumbh Mela being held after 12 years
The Mahakumbh, being held after 12 years, will be on till February 26.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a "divine occasion", that brings together "countless people in a sacred confluence of faith, devotion and culture".
Utter Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed devotees to "experience unity in diversity" at the "world's largest spiritual and cultural gathering".
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