Allahabad: All roads led to Sangam city Saturday where devotees gathered ahead of the third and the final ‘shahi snan’ on Basant Panchami, falling Sunday. More than two crore people are expected to take a holy dip at the Kumbh Mela on the auspicious occasion. The festival of Basant Panchami heralds the arrival of spring and is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati.
Allahabad Mayor Abhilasha Gupta Nandi told this agency, “Basant Panchami is the third and last ‘shahi snaan’ of Kumbh. By taking three dips on this day, a devotee gets the blessings of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. Hence, it holds tremendous significance for people.”
Kumbh Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand told this agency Saturday that more than two crore people from different walks of life are likely to arrive here to take a dip on the occasion of Basant Panchami. The inflow is expected to continue all through the night.
The Mela commenced January 15 on Makar Sankranti, the first bathing day, and the Mahashivratri, March 4 will mark its last bathing day.
“Shahi snan is the central highlight of the Kumbh Mela and the most important part of the celebration. It is only after the completion of ‘shahi snan’ that people are allowed to take the holy dip,” said Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) president, Narendra Giri.
Dhrubo Bhattacharya, a priest, said that many families, especially Bengalis, mark this day by sitting with their babies and young children, encouraging them to write their first words with their fingers, while some others study or create music together.
Security personnel have been beefed up at different crossings and parts of the city for Kumbh Mela. The Uttar Pradesh police too has geared up for a seamless and incident-free Kumbh, spread over 3,200 hectare land in the Sangam City.
“The whole region has been demarcated into nine zones and 20 sectors with the deployment of over 20,000 police personnel, 6,000 homeguards, 40 police stations, 58 outposts, 40 fire stations, 80 companies of central force and 20 companies of PAC,” UP’s DGP OP Singh informed.
With a view to counter any terrorist activity, anti-terrorist squad (ATS) commandoes, anti-sabotage commandoes with snipers, bomb disposal units, sniffer dog squads and intelligence units have also been pressed into service, Singh said.
PTI
