Maha Kumbh's third 'Amrit Snan' begins on Basant Panchami

The Maha Kumbh's third 'Amrit Snan' on Basant Panchami attracts devotees seeking spiritual liberation through sacred dip.

The Maha Kumbh witnessed its third grand ‘Amrit Snan’ on the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami, drawing hundreds of thousands of devotees from across the globe, all seeking spiritual liberation through the sacred dip.

At the break of dawn, sadhus, including the ash-smeared Nagas from various akharas, began their ceremonial journey towards the Triveni Sangam.

Also read | At Maha Kumbh, Yogi Adityanath praises saints for acting responsibly post-stampede; hits out at Sanatan Dharma opponents

By 4 a.m., 16.58 lakh devotees had taken the holy dip, with the overall figure of those who took the dip since January 13 reaching 34.97 crore, information director Shishir said, adding the figure included 10 lakh kalpvasis and 6.58 pilgrims.

This holy bathing ritual holds particular significance in the wake of the stampede during the previous ‘Amrit Snan’ on ‘Mauni Amavasya’, which resulted in at least 30 deaths and left 60 others injured.

So far, over 33 crore devotees have taken a dip at the Maha Kumbh and the Uttar Pradesh government expects a footfall of around five crore pilgrims on Monday alone.

Determined to prevent any more untoward incident since ‘Mauni Amavasya’, the Uttar Pradesh government has reinforced security and crowd management measures. With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally inspecting preparations on Saturday, additional personnel, medical staff, and resources have been deployed to ensure a “zero-error” Amrit Snan on Monday.