'Scaled down' Kumbh Mela witnessed 70 lakh participants; comes to an end 70 days early

Kumbh Mela, the mammoth religious festival that took place in Haridwar, ended on Friday. Amid the pandemic, seventy lakh devotees participated in the mela after triggering a scare that it might have acted as a coronavirus ‘super-spreader”. A huge number of people gathered around Haridwar to take a dip in the holy Ganga as the event was reduced to just one month and scaled-down midway due to the raging pandemic.

The “scaling down” is the first in recorded history of the mela, which is held once every twelve years in Haridwar. In normal circumstances, the Kumbh Mela is held over three months but this time began as late as April 1 and ended within a month due to concerns over COVID-19.

About 2,600 devotees tested positive out of the nearly two lakh tests conducted by medical personnel during the mela. Three shahi snans took place during the event on April 12, 14 and 27, the last one being reduced to a largely symbolic event. Haridwar's Chief Medical Officer S K Jha said the Kumbh was a big challenge considering its potential to fuel the surge of coronavirus.

The medical officer for Kumbh Arjun Singh Sengar said that the situation was challenging as COVID norms have to be followed.

"The situation was challenging for us as the crowd, though relatively smaller this time was big enough to violate the norms of social distancing. The seers were initially reluctant to go for tests but they relented after the second shahi snan on April 14. With the help of healthcare personnel brought from Uttar Pradesh, we conducted a total of 1,900,83 tests, out of which 2642 reported positive," he said.

'Kumbh Mela should be symbolic': PM Modi

The crowds began diminishing after an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the seers to keep their representation in Kumbh symbolic. PM Modi tweeted, "Spoke to Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Pujya Swami Awadheshanand Giri Ji on the phone today. Got to know about the health of all saints. All the saints are giving all kinds of support to the administration. I thanked the saints for this".

I have prayed that two royal baths have taken place and that the Kumbh should be kept symbolic due to the Corona crisis. This will give us the strength from fighting this crisis

After PM Modi's appeal, several akhadas withdrew from the event-- the Joona Akhada, the largest among the sects was the first one to respond.

Maha Kumbh Mela 2021

The Maha Kumbh Mela, which is organised once every twelve years, and goes on for over 100 days, was hosted for 30 days this year. The Uttarakhand government took this decision, slammed in many quarters as coming too late, considering the ongoing situation of the Coronavirus pandemic, where cases are still piling up across India even as vaccinations have begun.

(With PTI Inputs)

(Image Credits: GERALT/PIXABAY/PTI)