With the first 'Shahi Snan' (royal bath), the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Uttar Pradesh government's flagship event—Divya Kumbh, Bhavya Kumbh—is all set to take off on the barricaded sandy banks of the Ganga at Prayagraj on Tuesday.
From January 15, for the next 54 days, the 'Sangam Nagari' will witness motley procession of devotees, sinners, digital-sadhus and more from all over the globe. This religious show on the banks of the Ganga provides them a golden opportunity to participate in mega rite of 'immortality'.
Festoons, buntings, flags, naked and ash-smeared nagas, saffron-clad seers, and chillum-smoking sadhus will provide a mystique touch to the milieu of the ‘Kumbh Nagari'.
Though these are the usual scenes of every Kumbh, this year’s event is quite different in many ways from its predecessors. For instance, this is the first Kumbh of Prayagraj. The Yogi Adityanath government recently changed the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj.
The state government, along with the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, have been trying hard for the past two years to make the event memorable. Yogi has visited the city for more than six times in the past one year to ensure that all the arrangements are foolproof. Recently, Prime Minister Modi, too, visited the sacred city to take a first-hand stock of the situation.
The BJP government has worked relentlessly to make this Kumbh a global event. It is one of their flagship programmes to mobilise world opinion in India’s favour.
This Kumbh is expected to set a new precedence in terms of attendance, too. People from 192 countries are expected to participate this time. The state government is spending Rs 2,800 crore (double the amount spent on 2013 Kumbh) to make it more glamorous.
Over 15 crore devotees are expected to attend this year's Kumbh—an increase of three crore from the previous one. This year's Kumbh figures in the UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
For the first time, on the occasions of ‘Shahi Snans’, choppers will shower flowers on the pilgrims in the entire Kumbh area. The head of All India Akhara Parishad, Mahant Narendra Giri, told THE WEEK, “Undoubtedly, this Kumbh will be a historic event and the pilgrims will go back to their homes with such memories that they have not had in earlier Kumbhs.”
There are three most important bathing occasions which fall during the entire 55-day-long Maha Kumbh and these are termed 'Shahi Snans'—Makar Sankranti (January 14), Mauni Amavasya (February 4) and Basant Panchami (February 10) which attract the maximum number of pilgrims.
