Faith stronger after holy dip, say bathers

Whether for material or spiritual gains, or a combination of both, most who come for the Shahi Snan feel charged by the holy dip.
‘Sadhus’ and other devotees take a holy dip at the Sangam on Makar Sankranti festival during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
‘Sadhus’ and other devotees take a holy dip at the Sangam on Makar Sankranti festival during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. PTI
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PRAYAGRAJ: Cousins Shivanshu Dubey and Rakesh Tiwari from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, are at the Sangam having done their Shahi Snan and feeling quite thrilled about it.

“Shahi Shan has been happening at the Mahakumbh for a long. What makes it special this year is that it happens during a rare celestial alignment that occurs only once every 144 years. I certainly won’t be around for the next one,” says Tiwari with a smile.

Dubey came out of the water with a “positive energy” surge. “It will carry me through as I prepare for the UPSC exams,” he says. He ensured going for an early morning dip, at the hour of the ‘manthan’ (churning of the ocean) that yielded ‘Amrit’.

Whether for material or spiritual gains, or a combination of both, most who come for the Shahi Snan feel charged by the holy dip. Like the cousins from Ghazipur, residents of Prayagraj also do the dips during the annual Magh Mela. Heramb Chaturvedi, retired HOD of History at Allahabad University, says it is part of the “intersectional journey” between the Magh and the Kumbh.

Rinku Kimari, an advocate from Prayagraj, says it is part of her “family’s culture”. Her mother and her grandmother before her would never miss taking the holy dip. It connects her to her family, family traditions, and the traditions of the city to which she belongs.

She also imbibed her feelings for the event from her grandfather, who was into astronomy. “It’s not about religion for me. The Kumbh happens when Jupiter aligns with the Sun and the Kumbh (the constellation of Aquarius), so you could say it’s about the cosmos. It’s also everyone’s Shahi Snan. Half my neighbourhood goes and so do our neighbours,” says Kumari, a resident of Alopibagh, a neighbourhood close to Sangam.

Vrijender Dubey, a retired athlete from Noida now in his eighties, says the movement of a mass of people towards water reminds him of the eternal flow of life. “We come, we go, and we have to keep going,” he says.

Pramila Thakur of Pune is a first-timer at Prayagraj for the Shahi Snan. She is here with her family but cannot spot them for last two hours. But her eyes are steady as she says, “I’m not worried. If coming here has made me realise anything, it is this, that my faith is strong.”

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