Prayagraj (India), 12 February: The joy of bathing in the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers is clearly visible on the faces of the devotees. Even though their bodies were tired after coming from far away, the joy of arriving here was reflected on their faces.
During the Mahakumbh, which was held after 144 years, lakhs of devotees who came to seek merit were seen taking a dip in the bathing place built on one bank of the river, chanting the name of the Lord. Prayagraj is considered a religiously special place due to the belief that the Saraswati River, along with the Ganges and Yamuna, confluences there. However, the Saraswati River does not exist at present.
The number of people coming to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttarakhand state of India, has been increasing day by day since last month, said Gagan Yadav, information officer of the Maha Kumbh Mela. 10 to 30 million devotees are coming daily. “To count the number of people coming to the Maha Kumbh, cameras based on artificial intelligence (AI) have been installed at every intersection. Based on that, the number of visitors has been estimated. The highest number of devotees in a single day has been more than 30 million devotees,” he said.
The number of devotees arriving here has increased significantly in the days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dip in the Mahakumbh. “The number of devotees has been increasing in the last five days, it has become difficult for us to manage,” he said. So far, more than 450 million devotees have attended the Mahakumbh Mela. He informed that devotees from various countries including Nepal have come. He estimates that 550 million devotees will arrive by the day the Mela concludes.
Information Officer Yadav said that Nepal can also benefit from the Maha Kumbh Mela by promoting religious tourism. Most of the devotees who come to the Maha Kumbh are visiting the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya and the temple of Bishwanath Baba in Varanasi. Similarly, they can be taken to famous pilgrimage sites in Nepal, including Pashupatinath, Muktinath and Lumbini, Yadav said.
Agile management
Despite the unexpected increase in the number of people coming from different countries of the world to participate in the Mahakumbh, the fair management is tight. Arrangements have been made on the river banks so that all devotees can bathe. A place has also been made for local, national, and international media to conduct ‘podcasting’ with residential facilities. In addition, temporary housing has been constructed for visitors. According to Information Officer Yadav, the Indian government has so far spent Rs 75 billion for the operation of the fair.
John Cena in Mahakumbh
What is the Mahakumbh?
It is believed that the first Mahakumbh Mela was organized 850 years ago. Adi Shankaracharya initiated the Mahakumbh. Some mythological stories also describe the organization of the Kumbh after the churning of the ocean.
The famous Chinese traveler Hengsang mentioned the Kumbh Mela during his visit to India. According to Hengsang, King Harshvardhan used to organize grand events at the confluence of rivers every five years. Through these events, he would donate a portion of the state’s wealth to religious figures.
Apart from that, the glory of Kumbh is mentioned in Shiva Purana, Matsya Purana, Padma Purana and Bhavishya Purana. When the pot of nectar came out during the churning of the ocean, the pot of nectar was tugged between the gods and the demons. To reduce the struggle, Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini. Then, when the struggle between the gods and the demons started increasing, Jayanta, the son of Indradev, was entrusted with the pot of nectar. Jayanta took the form of a crow, snatched the pot of nectar from the demons and started flying. It is believed that some drops of nectar fell in Prayagraj, Ujjain, Haridwar and Nashik during the flight. The Kumbh Mela started being held at the place where the nectar fell.
