Lakhs of Saints, Sadhus and devotees perform Amrut Snan while chanting 'Jai Shriram' and 'Har Har Mahadev'

Police succeed in controlling the crowd

The enthusiasm of the Saints and Sadhus during bathing

Prayagraj – On February 3rd, i.e., on the occasion of Vasant Panchami, lakhs of devotees performed Amrut Snan while chanting ‘Jai Shriram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’, at the holy Triveni Sangam. Controlling the crowd of devotees considering the past experience of Mouni Amavasya, was a challenge for the Police, but they succeeded in it. All the akhadas followed the time given to them for bathing. Due to this, the Amrut Snan was conducted in a disciplined, timely and enthusiastic manner. On this day of Amrut Snan too, the Government showered flowers on the Saints and devotees from helicopters.

Government showered flowers on devotees through helicopter

Police took special measures to control the crowd

The Police had put up barricades on the road leading to Triveni Sangam. A separate route was kept for devotees to reach Triveni Sangam. To avoid crowding, the Police immediately sent the devotees who had finished taking bath, away from the Sangam Ghat, and they also removed the hawkers near the Sangam. A tight Police security was kept on this road to prevent any obstruction in the way of the akhadas. Barricades were put up on this entire road to prevent other devotees from coming on this road. The Police had removed all the shops on Triveni Marg the previous day, and no one was allowed to sleep on this road. This paved the way for the devotees to go to the Sangam Ghat. As a result, devotees could easily reach the Sangam Ghat.

Saints and Sadhus bathing the Mahadev Pindi

Devotees’ faith in Saints and Sadhus

A disciplined procession of akhadas for Amrut Snan

The procession taken out by various akhadas to the Triveni Sangam was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the devotees. The devotees were applying the soil from the road used by the Saints and Naga Sadhus while returning post the Amrut Snanon their forehead. The devotees repeated this after passing of each akhada. Many people were carrying the soil from that this path in their hands. Devotees were crowding to receive the flowers and garlands that the Saints and Sadhus had thrown for the devotees. While taking the bath at the akhadas and returning, the devotees were standing on both sides and taking blessings of the Saints and Sadhus. The Naga Sadhus with weapons were the highlight of this procession.

The Police help the devotees

After the procession of the akhadas passed by on the way back, the Police were picking up the flowers and garlands that fell on the way and distributing among the devotees. After the passing of each akhada, the Police were leaving the devotees on the path to collect flowers and soil, respecting their religious sentiments. Many Police personnel were also taking blessings of the Naga Sadhus. Along with this, as the crowd increased, the Police personnel were handling the situation well by behaving lovingly and humbly with the Sadhus-Saints and devotees. Some horse-mounted Police were deployed to control the crowd.

Sanitation workers worked all night

On the day of Vasant Panchami, lakhs of devotees who had come to the Kumbha Kshetra for bathing had thrown teacups, food wrappers, and food waste around. Garbage was lying outside the garbage bins in many places. Hundreds of sanitation workers were working day and night for 2 days to clean this. Therefore, the entire Kumbha Kshetra was very clean the night before the Amrut Snan. On the day of bathing, the cleanliness of the path towards Sangam was also going on. All these sanitation workers had a great contribution in maintaining cleanliness in the Kumbha Kshetra.

Vasant Panchami snan recorded lowest number of devotees participating this year compared to other snan

Since the date of Vasant Panchami started from the night of February 2nd, the administration was continuously announcing that devotees should take bath on the night of February 2nd itself. Due to this, many devotees started taking bath at the ghats from the night of February 2nd. This resulted in the crowd decreasing from the morning of February 3rd. This year, the number of devotees was the lowest compared to the snan held so far. On the day of Vasant Panchami, 1.3 crore devotees took bath till 2 p.m.