Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), February 12: The Magh Purnima ‘snan’ (holy dip) at the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj was successfully concluded on Wednesday. This milestone marked a significant achievement in the festival’s progress.
Speaking to ANI, Anuj Jha, Secretary of the Urban Development Department, highlighted the success of the event. “The snan of Maghi Purnima has been concluded successfully. It is a huge milestone for us. Lakhs of Kalpavasis and crores of pilgrims have visited here in the last month… Urban Development was the nodal department, and all the arrangements were done efficiently,” he said.
As of now, the total number of pilgrims visiting the Mela grounds has reached 38.83 million, with Kalpwasis staying in the area surpassing 10 million. According to officials, the cumulative number of devotees who have participated in the holy dips since the beginning of the festival has exceeded 462.5 million as of February 11, 2025. The footfall is expected to grow further with more auspicious bathing dates ahead.
On the security and crowd management front, Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar elaborated on the lessons learned from the Mauni Amavasya mishap and improvements made for the Magh Purnima snan. “We learned a lesson from the Mauni Amavasya incident and implemented new techniques. There is a management technique of ‘Build back better’… We took the community’s feedback to improve and implemented new techniques,” the DGP said.
He also provided an update on the number of devotees: “More than 1.3 crore devotees took a dip till 10 am today. Approximately 46 to 47 crore people have visited the MahaKumbh so far. We are also focused on places like Chitrakoot, Mirzapur Vindhyanchal Temple, Vishwanath Corridor, and Ayodhya due to the high number of visitors.”
In terms of security, the DGP explained that a war room had been set up in Lucknow to monitor the situation in real-time. “We have made a war room in Lucknow where we get a live feed of the Prayagraj Kshetra… More than 2500 cameras are active. We receive the live feed in the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) in Prayagraj,” he said.
Regarding the stampede incident, the DGP clarified that it was not an administrative lapse but rather the result of an overwhelming response from the crowd. “The mode of transport has changed. More people are now coming by cars instead of buses or trains, which has contributed to the surge in crowds,” he explained.
He also addressed the spread of fake videos on social media, saying that some people had circulated videos from other places, falsely claiming they were from the Kumbh. “We have registered an FIR against such individuals,” he added.
The Mahakumbh 2025, which began on Paush Purnima (January 13, 2025), is recognized as the world’s largest spiritual and cultural gathering, attracting devotees from around the globe. The event, which will run until Mahashivratri on February 26, 2025, continues to be a major spiritual highlight for millions of people.