Large numbers of devotees head to Kashi, Ayodhya

Prayagraj : Undeterred by challenges, lakhs of devotees thronging the Maha Kumbh for a holy dip at the Sangam are now heading towards Kashi and Ayodhya, officials said. According to government data, an average of 1.44 crore people are taking a holy bath at the Maha Kumbh every day.

Dr Sushma, who arrived in Prayagraj from Ranchi with her son on Monday, told PTI, “After taking a dip in the Sangam and visiting the fair, we will head to Kashi for Lord Shiva’s darshan and later proceed to Ayodhya.” Similarly, 74-year-old Ketari Devi from Ara, Bihar, said, “We saw on TV and mobile that this Maha Kumbh is happening after 144 years. After taking a holy dip, we will visit Kashi.

Despite the huge crowd, we hope that we will get his darshan.”

Nishant Abhishek, who travelled from Mumbai, added, “We’ve heard that apart from Prayagraj, Kashi and Ayodhya are also witnessing heavy crowds. But this is a rare opportunity to visit all the three places during Maha Kumbh. We will also go to Ayodhya.” ACP (Traffic) Shailendra Singh said that a significant number of devotees are heading towards Varanasi and Ayodhya after their visit to the Maha Kumbh.

ADCP (Traffic) Kuldeep Singh said that compared to the 2019 Kumbh, the crowd this time is much larger even on regular days, leading to frequent traffic congestion. Due to the heavy rush outside the Prayagraj railway station, the Northern Railway’s Lucknow division has temporarily closed it for passenger movement from 1:30 pm on February 9 to midnight on February 14, an official statement said.

However, eight other railway stations in the Maha Kumbh area continue to operate regular and special trains. As per government figures, over 44 crore devotees have taken a dip at the Triveni Sangam till February 9. On February 10, by 10 am, over 63 lakh devotees had performed the ritual bath.

On key bathing days, the footfall has been record-breaking. On January 13 (Paush Purnima), it was 1.70 crore while on January 14 (Makar Sankranti) it was 3.50 crore, and 7.64 crore (highest so far) took dip in the Sangam on Mauni Amavasya. With an average of 1.44 crore people taking a dip daily, authorities are managing an unprecedented surge of pilgrims in the holy city.

Over 1.02 crore people have taken holy dip in the Sangam till 4 pm, which included over 10 lakh Kalpwasis and 91.94 lakh pilgrims.

The total number of devotees taking dip in the Sangam till date since the start of the Kumbh Mela has crossed 44 crore. In Varanasi, a large number of devotees returning from the Maha Kumbh are arriving to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple, leading to massive crowds across the city.