‘Astrological rarity’ draws millions to Mahakumbh’s sacred waters
Official records revealed on Sunday itself by 4pm (16 hours), a whopping 1.17 crore devotees took the holy dip in Sangam bringing the hourly average to 6.25 lakh
The rising rate of arrival of devotees in large numbers from all over the country in Mahakumbh Nagar is posing a challenge to mela administration.

Official records revealed on Sunday itself by 4pm (16 hours), a whopping 1.17 crore devotees took the holy dip in Sangam bringing the hourly average to 6.25 lakh.
On Sunday, city roads leading to the tent city remained choked with vehicles arriving from different states, forcing pilgrims to walk nearly 6 to 8 kilometres to reach the Sangam, with 550 shuttle buses pressed into service by state government to transport
pilgrims from different entry points of district to tent city, getting exhausted.
Devotees in large numbers kept pouring in all through the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The mela area has been declared ‘no vehicle zone’ in view of excessive devotee crowd influx.
The average count of devotees taking the holy dip in the Sangam waters reached nearly 2lakh per hour from Saturday afternoon onwards which increased to over 6lakh per hour on Sunday afternoon, revealed official records.
By 8pm on Saturday, 11.47 crore people had taken bath at the Sangam since the start of the Mahakumbh on January 13. In view of the Mauni Amavasya snan, the same figures could double with nearly three more days to go. Official estimates mention nearly 8 crore
to 10 crore devotees are expected to bathe at the Sangam on Mauni Amavasya.
Mahakumbh Nagar district magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand said all measures were in place to ensure smooth regulation of the crowd in the Mela area. ‘Restrictions have been put on movement of vehicles in mela area in view of excessive crowd,’ he said.
At 10am on January 24, the count of devotees having bathed at the Sangam during the day was 28.29 lakh, which swelled to 35.34 lakh at 2pm, marking an increase of 7.05 lakh in a four-hour duration. This brought the hourly average to 1.76 lakh per hour. Further,
the 35.34 lakh bathing count recorded at 2pm increased to 42.06 lakh at 4pm, bringing the hourly average to 3.34 lakh per hour.
By 10 am on January 25, 24.93 lakh pilgrims had bathed at the Sangam. The number increased to 32.98 lakh at 12 noon, bringing the hourly average to 4.02 lakh devotees per hour.
The count swelled to 40.93 lakh at 2pm, registering the hourly average to 3.97 lakh per hour of devotees bathing in the sacred waters. Further, at 4pm, the count increased to 48.48 lakh, an addition of another 7.55 lakh in two hours, putting the hourly average at 3.77 lakh.
On Sunday morning at 8am the count of devotees having bathed was registered at 18.26 lakh which swelled to 1.17 crore at 4pm.
Those having already arriving and bathed at Sangam are not ready to leave mela area before the Mauni Amavasya snan, considered the most holy. This has worsened situation for mela managers as influx sans exit of devotees was clogging smooth movement in tent city with each passing hour.
Says Meena Prajapati, a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan, ‘We arrived in mela with great difficulty. Our vehicle was stopped nearly 8 kilometres from mela area. Now we will leave after bathing on Mauni Amavasya as this auspicious occasion will not arrive again before 144 years,’ she said.
Similarly, Kalpana Jain, resident of Indore, Madhya Pradesh arrived with her family on Saturday and would return back on January 30 after the Mauni Amavasya bathing.
Says astrologer and director of Uthan Jyotish Sansthan Pandit Diwaker Tripathi, ‘This Mahakumbh is being held in a very rare planetary configuration where Jupiter transits in Taurus along with Sun transiting in Capricon completing 12 ‘chakras’ of Devguru Jupiter.
This the reason pilgrims are determined to bathe in Sangma waters on Mauni Amavasya and not leave earlier.’
He said owing to FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out, the devotee crowd in mela area was swelling against expectations posing challenge for administration.
It may be mentioned that UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Saturday had declared mela area as a ‘No Vehicle Zone’ in view of Mauni Amavasya bathing.
