LUCKNOW: The 45-day religious extravaganza –Mahakumbh-- concluded on the banks of Sangam in Prayagraj with the snan (holy dip) of Mahashivaratri witnessing over 2,5 crore devotees taking holy dip.
Varanasi, the seat of Kashi Vishwanath, one of the most revered of 12 Jyotirlingas — had an overwhelming surge of devotion with lakhs thronging Kashi to seek blessings of Lord Shiva, on Wednesday.
This year, the city of Kashi Vishwanath broke all the previous records with an estimated 25 lakh devotees participating in Mahashivaratri celebrations.
Significantly, for the seven Shaiva Akharas, the Mahakumbh-2025 culminated in Mahashivaratri with a special prayer at Kashi Vishwanath temple following grand Peshwai processions on Wednesday.
As a part of the Peshwai procession, over 10,000 Naga Sadhus, adding to festive fervour, marched through the roads of Kashi singing, dancing with their deities, flags and flaunting their tridents, swords, and maces, amid the chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’.
The Peshwai culminated in a grand celebration inside Kashi Vishwanath Dham. Since midnight, serpentine queues stretching over 3-5 kilometres were there outside the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor as the doors remained open for an uninterrupted 46-hour darshan.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath monitored the arrangements to ensure a smooth and well-organized darshan of Lors Shiva with senior police and district administration officials actively patrolling the area, ensuring seamless celebrations of the festive night.
Mahashivaratri in Kashi has special significance because of the presence of Kashi Vishwanath drawing devotees in massive numbers. However, this year, it turned out to be even more special as it coincided with the return flow of Mahakumbh devotees, Naga Sadhus, seers, saints and Akharas besides the natives of Varanasi leading to an unprecedented surge in crowd.
With Tuesday's late evening decision of taking out traditional Shiv Barat on Mahashivratri evening, the grand wedding procession of the presiding deity came on the road on Wednesday evening adding colour to celebrations.
To manage the enormous crowd, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust and district administration had adopted strict security measures.
The entire temple complex was kept under high surveillance with police, paramilitary forces, ATS commandos, and STF units deployed across the corridor to maintain order. Senior officials continued to assess the situation on the ground to ensure devotees' safety and comfort.
The procession of Naga Sadhus was greeted with garlands and showering them with petals by senior officials, including Divisional Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma, Police Commissioner Mohit Agarwal, and DM S Rajalingam, personally at Gate No. 4 of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham.
To ensure a smooth darshan experience for every devotee, VIP protocols were suspended, giving equal access to all. The temple doors were opened in the wee hours at 2:15 am on Wednesday after Mangala Aarti of Baba Vishwanath who was decked up like a divine groom.
Meanwhile, the ghats along the river Ganga came alive since midnight with thousands of devotees flocking to them to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mahashivaratri.
The district administration showered the devotees not only on the ghats but to Kashi Vishwanath Corridor premises with rose petals amid the chants 'Har Har Mahadev' leaving the devotees dancing in divine gaiety.
