Kumbh 2019 – The festival of ‘Sanatana’

Kumbh 2019 is already in sway, and it is attracting eyeballs worldwide. In fact it is the largest gathering of humans in a single place. During the special ‘Nahaan’ (Bathing) days, as many as 3 crores pilgrims take a dip in the holy river. To get a sense of the figure, this number is more than the population of Australia. But then Kumbh gets organized repeatedly, so what’s special in this years Kumbh?

To begin with, a priest as the chief minister of the state helps, and this led to Rs. 4,326 crores being allocated for Kumbh this year. This is a mammoth amount, and the result is that the pilgrims are getting to bath in a river which is brimming with water and is clean. All the tanneries and factories within 100 kilometers of Allahabad (renamed – ‘Prayagraj’), have been prohibited to release their diffuse their excreta in the river stream. And this step has had a mammoth effect on the condition of the river. People have been reported saying that they haven’t seen Ganga and Sangam so clean, and full of water. Apart from that special attention has been given to the cleanliness of the city itself. Prayag has been transformed to welcome the pilgrims of Kumbh. The corners of the city are cleaned, roads are maintained, and graffitis are made on pillars depicting scenes and monuments from the country, along with the puranic history of the city and ‘Sanatana Dharma’. This has impressed the pilgrims, and they attribute this praise on Yogi’s government.

The change in the government’s attitude can clearly be seen on the website for Kumbh, which was separately made for this mammoth festival. They have immaculately listed down everything which one needs to make sure before coming, how people can reach the Kumbh site, what facilities they can avail, or how they can book their tents? In fact, the tent city this time is quite bigger than what it was last time. Sanatanis from all over the world have been pouring in the Kumbh, and the government sources reveal that around 16 crores people have already taken a dip in the holy river. There are cultural programs being organized, awareness sessions being held, and a separate museum of Kumbh’s history has been established in Prayag. The railways have been running numerous special trains to cater to the huge need of transport, and special arrangements have been made by the state government regarding this too.

Apart from all this, one thing is very clear that politically speaking, the Kumbh mela and it’s brilliant preparations can be a game changer for BJP in the coming general elections. People are clearly impressed with the preparation Yogi government has done for the Kumbh, and it is bound to show in the political mandate of the BJP. Leaders from the BJP including Party President Amit Shah have taken a dip in this year’s kumbh, and it shows the importance the party is giving to this event. It will also help to reduce the anti-incumbency against Modi Government. This grand confluence of the Sanatanis from all over this world is not only a religious event. It’s also political, and Yogi government has made sure that they don’t lack in preparations.

Here are some glimpses of this year’s kumbh –

(Source : All the photos are taken from the Official webiste of Kumbh 2019 – https://kumbh.gov.in )