Lakhs of devotees take dip to mark start of Shivaratri, end of Kumbh

Lakhs of devotees on Sunday thronged the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati for a holy dip on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri, bringing the Maha Kumbh to a close.

The sprawling landscape around the Sangam, dotted with numerous temples, big and small, was abuzz with activity since dawn as devotees came pouring in after their ‘snan’ to offer prayers.

Many of the devout also performed the ‘Rudrabhisheka’ wherein the ‘Shiva Linga’ was worshipped by pouring ’Gangajal,’ milk, honey and sugarcane juice.

There were some anxious moments when a number of youths jumped barricades put up to prevent devotees from venturing into deep waters and police resorted to the use of force to restore order.

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Among those who took the holy dip today included Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who arrived in the city with his family members and is likely to visit the Vindhyachal shrine later in the day for worship, Congress spokesman Javed Urfit said.

The festival is considered to be the concluding day of the Maha Kumbh, which commenced with the Makar Sankranti festival on January 14, and saw millions of people from across the globe and various walks of life converging within a short span of 55 days.

Held at the Sangam every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh of 2013 is likely to be remembered for the largest ever turnout of three crore pilgrims for the Mauni Amavasya festival on 10 February.

However, what was otherwise an occasion to rejoice, turned out to be a nightmare for the administration as a stampede broke out later in the day at the Allahabad Junction railway station, which was bursting at the seams with pilgrims on their way back after ‘snan.’

The stampede, which claimed 38 lives, came barely an hour after a similar incident was averted at the Kumbh area where the situation was brought under control, but only after some pilgrims died of suffocation.

In total, with the stampedes and fire incidents, over 45 lives were lost during the Maha Kumbh.

PTI