49-day Kumbh, a marquee of different shades of life, ends

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath honours Mela workforce with Kumbh Sewa Medal, announces one-month salary as bonus.
Sadhus take dip in the water of the holy Sangam- the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati river during the auspicious bathing day of Makar Sankranti at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 15, 2019. (EPS/ Pushkar V)
Sadhus take dip in the water of the holy Sangam- the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati river during the auspicious bathing day of Makar Sankranti at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 15, 2019. (EPS/ Pushkar V)

LUCKNOW: With the last Mahasnan on ‘Mahashvaratri’, the 49-day long religio-cultural extravaganza – Kumbh -2019—officially came to an end on Tuesday. The evident lived up to the moniker of being ‘the biggest congregation of humanity’ on earth by drawing over 24 crore people during the entire mela period of 50 days.

Governor Ram Naik and CM Yogi Adtiyanath were joined by the UP Deputy CMs, and other majority of ministers in Prayagaraj on Tuesday to close the Mela for six years as the next congregation will
take place as Mahakumbh at Sangam in 2025.

While both the Governor and the CM extended gratitude to all those—the highest authority of the Mela core team and a swachchhta karamchari standing on the lowest rung of work force – Kumbh- 2019 was
special in more than one way.

Thrice did the team from Guinness Book of World Records body come down to Prayagraj and accord the world records for maximum crowd management, biggest cleanliness mission, shuttling of biggest fleet
of shuttle buses (500) and biggest group painting exercise to Kumbh-2019.

Moreover,  this year’s Kumbh drew the huge VVIP and star power from across the globe. Besides, Indian President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, dozens of his ministers, judges, actors, artistes, a huge delegation of NRIs thronged the confluence of holy Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati to take holy dip. Even envoys from 192 countries and devotes from round the world visited the Mela in large numbers to be a part of its glory.

All praise for the extraordinary efforts of the mela management team, police personnel, safai workers, traffic managers, doctors, social workers, and the people of Prayagraj for making the event ‘Divya (divine) and Bhavya (grand) ’ in true sense, the CM announced a month’s salary to 75 member of Mela core team as bonus besides Kumbh Sewa Medals and certificates with prizes to all to acknowledge their dedication of 49 days.

What is more, CM Yogi Adityanath too created a record of sorts by having his cabinet meeting at Sangam in Kumbh and the entire council of ministers took the holy dip on January 29, .

With six mahasnanas—three being the Shahi (royal bathings) on  Makar Sankranti (January 15), Mauni Amavasya (February 4) and Basant Panchami ( February 10) –over five crore people took the holy dip on
each, the other three were Paush Purnima on January 21,  Maghi Poornima on February 19 and final Maha Shivratri on Monday. During the entire Mela period, a foot fall of over 24 crore was recorded much more than the expected 15 crore.

In all 13 akharas (religious orders) participated in the mela, it also saw the temple politics heating up when two dharam sansads were organised in January end to thrash out a date to initiate construction in Ayodhya.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com