UJJAIN, INDIA, April 4, 2004: In an atmosphere wafting spirituality, hundreds of thousands of sadhus and devotees today joined a relentless stream of pilgrims from various parts of the country for the Kumbha Mela beginning here tomorrow amidst tight security. More than 30 million devotees are expected at the month-long event which transforms this temple city into a mini-India, and about 2.5 million are likely to take a dip in Kshipra river as a part of the shahi snan, “royal bath,” on the opening day. The presence of sadhus of different akharas, monastic orders, and devotees have virtually painted the city in hues of saffron and yellow. Recitation from scriptures reverberated through several makeshift accommodation made for the holy men.
Sadhus of Juna akhara, one of the 13 main groups in which the holy men are classified, will be the first to enter the waters of Kshipra for bath. They will be followed by holy men of other groups. After the sadhus complete by noon, the ghats will be opened for others.
About 15,000 policemen, 10,000 para-military personnel and anti-terrorist squads have been deployed and arrangements made for aerial monitoring. Dog squads and special security personnel were doing rounds of the mela area and checking for explosives, drugs and weapons. An additional 1,000 policemen are being deployed to handle any emergency at the site.
The administration has constructed 28 new ghats and renovated 13 others to ensure clean water at Kshipra. The state has taken extra caution and consulted experts in crowd-management. Not forgetting the dreadful stampede at Nasik, hold-ups have been erected to regulate the crowds on snan days and arrangements made to enable pilgrims to have darshan within 20 minutes. Land, electricity and water is being provided free for the first the time to the sadhus for whom 500 akhara camps have been set up in the mela area.
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