Prayagraj, Feb 19 (UNI) Over 1.25 crore devotees took a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of Yamuna, Ganga and mythical Saraswati, on the occasion of Maghi Purnima here on Tuesday.
A sea of humanity took holy dip at more than 40 bathing ghats at Kumbh set up within a range of 8 km in Sangam area.
The mela administration had made elaborate arrangements for this main bathing of this Magh Month.
According to information received from the mela administration, more than 1.25 crore pilgrims left their destination after taking a holy dip at Sangam.
Mela Adhikari informed the newspersons here that from Makar Sankranti Snan to the Maghi Purnima, a total of 20.54 crore devotees had taken a bath in holy Sangam during the Kumbh. Maghi Purnima's snan is considered to be very important for the Kalpvasis. Today, Kalpavasis complete their resolution of Kalpvas by taking a dip in Sangam with rituals.
The crowd of devotees kept pouring in the Kumbh city for having dip in the Confluence Rivers. On the other side, there were constant visits of devotees at the Arail Ghat, Sangam Noze, Qila Ghat, Saraswati Ghat, Nagavasuki Ghat, Shastri Bridge and other ghats. The top brass also monitored the crowd and instructed their subordinates to do the same in a proper manner along with the deployment of police force at ghats. Home-guards, volunteers etc also continued to cooperate with devotees and pilgrims right from the bathing ghats including entry points and other major crossings of the city.
At each and every ghat, barricading had been done and warning boards installed for the convenience of the pilgrims. Apart from holy dip, donations, charities etc were the main features of the sacred day.
Devotees not only from UP but neighbouring states like MP, Bihar and Jharkhand and others had arrived in Sangam City braving the chilly weather conditions. It is believed that all wishes come true on this pious day.
Priests claimed Maghi Purnima marked the ending of a month-long austerity period which was observed during Magha month. During the entire Magh month, kalpwasis stayed on the bank and took early morning bath to earn 'punya'. The daily bathing started from Paush Purnima and ends on Magha Purnima. It was believed that the holy dip on the auspicious day of Maghi Purnima liberated the soul from the cycle of birth and death, he added.
Mela authorities also claimed that other facilities in terms of medical and health, transportation, sanitation, bathing ghats, security, fire services, ration distribution, lost and found, potable water, pollution control, milk supply and other civic amenities had been upgraded.
Extensive arrangements were also made to transport the devotees to the bathing ghats. The devotees were constantly being provided the information regarding the time schedule of the bus and trains after their bathing in the Sangam to reach their respective destination.
Till late evening the devotees kept pouring in the Sangam to have a holy dip. Monitoring was also being done by the Jal Police. Besides, there were also huge crowd at the Bade Hanuman temple located at Bandhwa. Along with the army men, the paramilitary personnel were also present at the ghats to monitor the situation.
However, majority of the devotees had to face difficulties in locating their kins who had seprated from them on the occasion due to stopping the announcement from the Bhule Bhatke Camp. However, no untoward incident took place and the Maghi Purnima Snan passed off peacefully.
UNI MB SHK2033