MAGH MELA-2023: Maghi Purnima Snan today, month-long kalpwas to end

Pilgrims in lakhs will take a dip on ‘Maghi Purnima’, the fifth official bathing festival of ongoing Magh Mela-2023 at Sangam, marking the end of the month-long kalpwas on Sunday. On Saturday, Kalpwasis performed ‘havan pujan’ at their tents and resolved to return yet again next year.

Magh Mela-2023 administration has completed all arrangements for a safe and secure Maghi Purnima Snan. Officials expect a crowd of around 20 lahks to take the dip on the occasion.

Senior officials including divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant and Magh Mela Adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan reviewed the preparations and briefed the subordinates on their duties on Friday.

“All preparations are complete for the bathing festival of Maghi Purnima. Entry and exit of pilgrims and visitors will be from different routes so that there is no overcrowding at any one given spot or route,” said Chauhan.

Meanwhile, as pilgrims started pouring in from across the country, traffic diversions and restrictions also came into force from Friday night and would remain in place till Monday afternoon. Entry of vehicles into the Mela area was also stopped from 8 am on Saturday, officials shared.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Magh Mela Rajeen Narain Mishra said that security has been reviewed ahead of the bathing festival.

Bomb disposal squad and other teams carried out a checking drive at Sangam Nose, pontoon bridges, parking places and different ghats. Dog squads were pressed into service to search for suspicious persons and objects, he added.

The officials have also come out with a fresh blueprint to ease traffic congestion on roads leading to the mela area ahead of the Maghi Purnima snan. The district traffic police were forced to redraw their strategy following major traffic snarls witnessed during and after Mauni Amavasya and Basant Panchami snans.

Acknowledging that the majority of Kalpwasis would be returning home on Sunday, police have set up 10 parking slots and fixed separate entry and exit routes for Kalpwasi vehicles. As per the plan, Kalpwasis vehicles coming from Kanpur, Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur, and Rewa routes would be entering the mela campus via GT Jawahar, Alopi temple trisection, Ganga Bhawan trisection and pontoon bridge number 5.

Furthermore, they will use pontoon bridge number 4 to exit towards Ganga Bhawan trisection, Alopi temple trisection, GT Jawahar and Harvardhan crossing. Kalpwasis vehicles coming from Varanasi and Mirzapur would be entering the mela campus through Tikarmafi– Triveni Marg and opt for the old GT road, Kachhar parking, home guard training centre and Andawa crossing during return.