Crowd of devotees gathered on the occasion of Vasant Panchami bathing festival in Prayagraj Magh Mela. Awakening
Jagran correspondent, Prayagraj. On the fourth major bathing festival of Magh Mela after Paush Purnima, Makar Sankranti and Mauni Amavasya, crowds of devotees have gathered for Sangam Snan. The sky is clear and in the mild sunshine, crowds of bathers have reached Prayagraj in buses and trains as well as in their personal vehicles, taking the name of Mother Ganga on their lips. After this, there is more enthusiasm to bathe in the holy waters of Ganga, Yamuna and invisible Saraswati on foot.
By 8 am on Friday morning, about one crore four lakh people had taken a dip of faith in the Sangam and Ganga on the occasion of the holy bath festival. The crowd pressure suddenly increased at Sangam in the morning. Because of this the Magh Mela administration implemented an emergency plan. During this period many routes were closed.
Suddenly the crowd on Kali Marg had increased. Traffic on many major routes was closed and the crowd heading towards Sangam was stopped. Sangam Upper Marg was closed by installing barriers from Kali Marg. The crowd was diverted towards Airavat bathing ghat. The confluence has been evacuated. Later, when the crowd pressure subsided, bathing started at Sangam Ghat.
- A holy dip of spring at 16 bathing ghats, special arrangements at Sangam.
- Administration estimates more than 2 crore devotees to come on Vasant
Late Thursday night, people started taking a dip in the Sangam amidst the sound of conch shells along with bells and gongs and Vedic chanting. The fair administration estimates that more than two crore devotees will take a dip. Devotees started flocking to Magh Mela from Thursday itself to take bath on Vasant Panchami on Friday. By evening a huge crowd had gathered in the fair. Be it Kali Marg of the fair or Ganga Path or Triveni Marg and every route of Jhunsi, there was a crowd of devotees. As if the ocean of faith had swelled in the morning itself.
In view of the crowd, security arrangements have been tightened. As a precautionary measure, the fair administration has made elaborate arrangements in view of the crowd. Apart from parking, a large number of devotees camped in vacant places and on the tracks. Only bathers are visible at the 16 bathing ghats spread over a length of about 3.69 km. Some were seen moving towards the Sangam carrying a stick and some others with a bundle on their head and a bag on their shoulders. Deafening shouts of Jai Ganga Maiya, Har Har Mahadev and Jai Shri Ram were echoing all along the way.
There is a ban on entry of vehicles in the fair. Extra vigilance is being taken at the entry points, confluence and pontoon bridges of the fair area. Apart from police, paramilitary, Home Guards, NDRF, Civil Defense and UP STF personnel are deployed. After Vasant Panchami, more crowd is expected due to Achala Saptami and weekend crowd and then due to the holiday of 26th January.
SDMs have been deployed at other bathing ghats and magistrates have been deployed at the entry routes of the fair. Magistrates have also been deployed on major roads and main intersections. There are 16 holding areas around the fair and in the city and on various highways, in which more than 2.25 lakh people can be stopped.
Fair official Rishiraj says that a scene of immense faith is visible in the Vasant Panchami bathing festival of Magh. Special arrangements have been made from security to convenience at Sangam and other bathing ghats. The officers deployed at the fair have been instructed to be extra vigilant.
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