Last Shahi Snan concludes peacefully,million take holy dip

Ardh Kumbh Nagar, Jan 23 (UNI) The last Shahi Snan of the ongoing Ardh Kumbh Mela here today passed off peacefully despite the boycott call given by Awahani Akhara.

Over 12.2 million took the holy dip in the Sangam throughout the day to mark the fifth day of spring 'Basant Panchmi'.

In the morning, Chill and thick fog casted a shadow on the number of pilgrims, but as sun went up, fog disappeared and the number started to rise.

The day remained warm and pleasant, increasing the inflow of pilgrims. ''While we were expecting 80 lakh (8 million) people, the number crossed a crore (10 million),'' claimed divisional commissioner R N Tripathi.

Boat services to the holy confluence of rivers -- the Sangam-- was suspended for an hour due to fog. ''Flood lights also failed to help...thankfully, sun shone and fog waned,'' said Tripathi.

The Basant Panchmi festival also marked the last Shahi Snan (royal bath) by sadhus drawn from 12 akharas. However, the Awahani akhara, which had boycotted the previous 'snans', demanding separate time slot at the ghat, continued with the boycott.

The first in the series of akharas to take the holy dip was Mahanirwani akhara. Mahanirwani was given 40 minutes time for the ritual. Shahi snans began at 0615 hrs and continued till 1720 hrs, with sadhus from the Nirmal Akhara taking the last bath.

Even as sadhus were taking their royal bath, pilgrims took the holy dip to mark Basant Panchmi. While some 50 lakh pilgrims were staying in the Ardh Kumbh Nagar, over a crore reached the ghats by evening.

''Due to heavy rush at the ghats, the Mela administration had activated 'scheme 7', wherein the pilgrims were sent to the ghats through a longer route.

Basant Panchmi is also celebrated as goddess Saraswati's birthday. According to Bhagwat Puran, she was born from the 'kanth' of Lord Krishna on the day of Basant Panchami.

It is believed that since Basant (spring) is the festival of 'Kaam' or love, marriages are held on this day.

Scholars here claim that the effect of the sun on Basant Panchmi is considered auspicious.

The Sangam is the confluence of Ganga -- considered as Muni Putri, Yamuna -- considered as Bhanu (sun) Putri and the mythical Saraswati -- born from the throat of Lord Krishna.

While the inflow of pilgrims till midnight was low, their numbers increased relatively as the Panchmi started at 0314 hrs.

Meanwhile, river police had cordoned off the Sangam area to ensure no one entered the deep waters during the ritual. Boatmen were issued with a route chart to ensure the safety of pilgrims.

UNI