Prayagraj, India, Jan 14 (EFE).- A procession of India’s most important sects on Tuesday opened the first sacred bathing of the Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela, attended by millions of pilgrims flocking to the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers.
In decorated chariots, on horses, and on foot, the faithful made their way to the riverbanks in the northern Uttar Pradesh city of Prayagraj.
The calm spiritual atmosphere of the event, however, was marred by the jostling and congestion of the many pilgrims at the popular Sangam ghat where the three rivers converge, with falls and moments of distress.
Only the shouts of “aaraam se, aaraam se” (calm down, calm down) from the crowd and the whistles of the police, who attended the spots where the jams occurred, managed to relieve the tense situation and allow the long lines of pilgrims to leave or enter the famous ghat.
The authorities of the Kumbh Mela, the largest human gathering on the planet, expect that 450 million people will attend the festival during the next six weeks.
On its first day, at least 15 million devotees attended this colossal event, reported the Uttar Pradesh head of government, Yogi Adityanath, on Monday on X.
There are still no official attendance figures for Tuesday, but the influx of pilgrims is apparently much greater than on Monday.
According to Hindu mythology, bathing at the confluence of the sacred rivers will purify the pilgrims’ sins, free them from the cycle of reincarnations and bring them closer to spiritual liberation.
This is why it is also common to see thousands of people carrying bottles or plastic jugs of Ganges water.
“It is water from the sacred Ganges. We take it home and use it to perform pujas (prayers),” says Harish Chandrapura, who was carrying several liters of this greenish water, a sign of its pollution.
But that does not prevent pilgrims from immersing themselves in it, whether in bathing suits, underwear or T-shirts, under the watchful eyes of thousands of people who wait their turn, again pushing and shoving.
The festival has six especially auspicious days of bathing. The last of them on Feb. 26, the final day of the festival. The date of Jan. 29—Mauni Amavasya—is expected to be the busiest of them all.
Kumbh Mela 2025 in Prayagraj consists of operational logistics of unprecedented proportions, designed to handle the influx of hundreds of millions of pilgrims.
A temporary city, Mahakumbh Nagar, has been built, covering approximately 10,000 hectares, with more than 160,000 tents and shelters, including luxury accommodation options.
To ensure hygiene, 150,000 portable toilets have been installed, staffed by an extensive team of health workers.
The infrastructure includes 1,250 kilometers of pipes for water supply and sanitation, and a system consisting of 67,000 LED and 2,000 solar lights.
The transport network has also undergone a major upgrade, with the construction and repair of more than 400 kilometers of roads and the installation of 30 pontoon bridges over rivers.
This complex infrastructure aims to facilitate the flow of crowds, guarantee access to basic services and maintain order during the massive pilgrimage. EFE
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