Kumbh Mela over but people still flock to Triveni Sangam

By Kunal Dutt
     Mahakumbh Nagar (UP), Feb 28 (PTI) The Maha Kumbh 2025 culminated on Wednesday but a large number of pilgrims continued to throng the Sangam here, including many who missed taking the holy dip during the 45-day grand event.
     As traffic restrictions have been eased, the grounds near the mela ghats now also have become a meeting point of cars and other vehicles from different states as many people are driving straight to the ghats.
     While there is no official estimate, several thousands have flocked to the Triveni Sangam since Friday morning, performing the bathing rituals till the we hours.
     By 5 am, the ghats were still alive with energy and enthusiasm of people, many of whom have come from Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, besides several local residents of Prayagraj as well.
     Many pilgrims who couldn't make it to the Maha Kumbh Mela, have come to the Sangam, and their feeling expressed before and after taking the holy dip at the confluence reflected the same excitement as shown by those who did the 'snan' during the mela period.
     Most of them are thronging the Sangam Nose, the tip of the confluence point, while ghats near it were also filled with pilgrims.
     Among them was Ashish Kumar Singh, a Chennai native, who came all the way from the Tamil Nadu capital city, said, he arrived near the Sangam site around 11.30 pm on Thursday to take a holy dip.
     "I was planning to take a dip close to 11.45 pm, but a fire incident happened around the same time, so I followed the fire tenders when there were crossing the Nandi Dwar. But, I finally did it at about 3 am. It was an amazing experience," he told PTI.
     Singh, a Class 11 student, says he was born in Bihar but grew up in Chennai, and speaks Hindi, Bhojpuri, English and Tamil with equal ease, reflecting a 'sangam' of culture and languages.
     Next to him at the Sangam Nose, a large group of family members, who came from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh took the holy dip.
     The religious spectacle that takes place once in 12 years, began on January 13 (Paush Purnima) and saw grand processions of Naga Sadhus and three 'Amrit Snans'. It ended with the final auspicious 'snan' on Mahashivratri on Wednesday.
     Over 66 crore people took the holy dip at the Triveni Sangam during the course of the Maha Kumbh mela.
     However, the enthusiasm and religious fervor of the people has anything but thinned out.
     Kedar Nath, who sells water containers for carrying Ganga Jal, was also present at the Sangam Nose area, selling his ware from midnight till dawn.
     "Kumbh Mela is over but enthusiasm is still the same as even a day later, people still thronging the Sangam. It will remain the same as Prayagraj attracts pilgrims on non-mela days too," he told PTI.
     As dawn broke over the horizon, the number of people visiting the confluence point seeking a holy dip only few with each passing hours.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)