Around 30 women were injured when a stampede-like situation unfolded at the Maha Kumbh on the morning of Mauni Amavasya, prompting Akharas to call off the holy dip.
As crores of devotees streamed into the tent city in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj ahead of the ‘Amrit Snan’. Amid a surge in crowd about a kilometre away from the ‘Sangam’, barricades broke leading some women to faint. As the unconscious women fell, the stampede-like situation began. They were then rushed to a hospital within the Maha Kumbh fair grounds. Further, some seriously injured women were sent to Bailey Hospital and Swaroop Rani Medical College or treatment.
Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad president Mahant Ravindra Puri said that seers have called off their Mauni Amavasya’s Amrit Snan. “You would’ve seen what happened in the morning, and that’s why we have decided to… All of our saints and seers were ready for the ‘snan’ when we were informed about this incident. That’s why we have decided to call off our ‘snan’ on ‘Mauni Amavasya’,” Mahant Ravindra Puri told PTI.
Akhada Parishad General Secretary and Juna Akhara Patron Mahant Hari Giri too appealed to devotees to take a bath in the Ganga river wherever they are and return homes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and directed him to arrange immediate relief measures. Authorities closed pontoon bridges to avoid similar situations at other places within the fair grounds.
A day ahead of the second Amrit Snan, nearly five crore people had already reached Prayagraj, while crowds were pegged to swell to 10 crore on the day itself.
The Amrit Snan on Mauni Amavasya is the most significant ritual of the Maha Kumbh. This year, the occasion holds added spiritual importance due to a rare celestial alignment known as ‘Triveni Yog,’ which occurs once every 144 years.
As per tradition of the Kumbh Mela, Akharas belonging to the three sects ‘Sanyasi, Bairagi, and Udaseen’ take the holy dip in a set sequence following a majestic, awe-inspiring procession to the Sangam Ghat.
The seers and saints, including the ash-smeared Nagas, then immerse themselves in the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers on special bathing dates like the Mauni Amavasya.