Maha Kumbh’s last Amrit Snan on Basant Panchami, over 62 lakh take holy dip

UTTAR PRADESH, FEB 3 : Hundreds of thousands of devotees, saints, sadhus and akhadas took part in the Amrit Snan on the occasion of Basant Panchami at the Maha Kumbh on Monday, as Prayagraj followed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s “zero error” directive for the final holy bath.

At the break of dawn, different akhadas, led by their Mahamandleshwars, held their ceremonial journey towards the Triveni Sangam and performed the Amrit Snan at around 5 am, which is the grandest and most sacred ritual of the Maha Kumbh Mela, attracting millions of pilgrims from around the world.

According to the Uttar Pradesh Information Department, more than 62.25 lakh devotees have taken the holy dip as of 8 am, with over 35 crore pilgrims taking part till Sunday.

Authorities estimate that the number of devotees taking the holy dip is expected to cross 50 crore as 23 days are still left for the Mela to conclude.

For the smooth conduct of the event, a zero-error directive was issued by the Chief Minister, in the wake of a deadly stampede during a previous snan on January 29 where at least 30 people died and over 60 were injured.

Following tradition, the akharas of the three sects–Sanyasi, Bairagi, and Udaseen–are taking their holy dip in a predetermined sequence, with the initial groups already immersed in the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati.

Yogi Adityanath extended his “heartfelt wishes” to saints and devotees on the occasion. “Heartiest wishes to revered saints, religious leaders, all Akharas, Kalpvasis and devotees who earned virtue by taking the holy Amrit bath at the sacred Triveni Sangam on the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami in Maha Kumbh-2025, Prayagraj!,” he tweeted.

So far, over 33 crore devotees have taken a dip at the Maha Kumbh and the Uttar Pradesh government expects a footfall of around five crore pilgrims on Monday alone.

To oversee the smooth conduct of the Maha Kumbh Mela, the government has also deployed two senior IAS officers, who were part of the team that successfully conducted the 2019 Ardh Kumbh.

Ashish Goyal and Bhanu Chandra Goswami, who have hands-on experience in administration in Prayagraj, including a deep insight into crowd management and inter-agency coordination during the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, have joined Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand, forming a trio that was part of the mega fair six years ago.

The crowd control measures in the fair area are being overseen by the Additional Director General of Police, Bhanu Bhaskar, himself.

Ahead of the Amrit Snan, Chief Minister Adityanath visited Prayagraj for the first time after the incident on Saturday and inspected the incident site and went to hospitals to check on the condition of the injured. He directed officials to ensure Amrit Snan is executed “without any errors” in a review meeting regarding the Basant Panchami snan preparations

To ensure a smooth and hassle-free ‘Amrit Snan’, to prevent any kind of disorder, all departments working in the Maha Kumbh are operating together in the ‘Kumbh Command and Control Centre’. The command centre is monitoring all 25 sectors of the Maha Kumbh, overseeing 30 Pontoon bridges and key barricaded zones. More than 3,000 CCTV cameras are being used to monitor both the city and the mela area.

During the Mauni Amavasya dip on January 29, a stampede at Sangam Nose resulted in the death of 30 people and left 60 injured. Police said due to the massive rush, the devotees jostled for space, breaking a barrier that led to the commotion.

Apart from Amrit Snan dates, there are three other major bathing dates one of which was January 13 (Paush Purnima) while the two others are February 12 (Maghi Purnima) and 26 (Mahashivratri), which also marks the culmination of the once-in-a-12-year-event.

Devotees believe that taking a dip during such special celestial alignments washes away their sins and paves path for ‘moksha’, or salvation.

-PTI