ISSUE DATE: May 3, 2021
UPDATED: April 23, 2021 21:02 IST
SUPER SPREADER: Devotees at a ghat in Haridwar during a shahi snan on April 12
As the day of the last shahi snan (royal bath) of the Haridwar Mahakumbh Mela approaches on April 27, the crowds in Haridwar have thinned quite dramatically. Following the surge in Covid-19 cases, several akhadas (congregations) of seers have departed the festival grounds. For instance, of the 13 Bairagi akhadas, for whom the last shahi snan day is considered most significant, only six remain on site.
By April 18, about 80 seers at various ashrams had tested positive for Covid-19. On April 14, Swami Kapil Dev, the mahamandaleshwar of Madhya Pradesh’s Maha Nirvani Akhada, succumbed to Covid-19. Mahant Narendra Giri, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh. VHP working president Alok Kumar has also tested positive. Between the Maha Shivratri snan on March 11
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Amarnath pilgrims registration suspended in view of grim Covid-19 situation
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How the Uttarakhand government lost the plot with the Kumbh Mela
How the Uttarakhand government lost the plot with the Kumbh Mela | India Today Insight
Over 2,100 people have tested Covid-positive at the Kumbh so far. Will the once in 12 years gathering turn superspreader once the faithful returns home?
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UPDATED: April 18, 2021 20:48 IST
Devotees gather to offer prayers during the third Shahi Snan of the Kumbh Mela, at Har ki Pauri Ghat in Haridwar on April 14, 2021. (PTI)
On April 17, the Uttarakhand government swung into action to scale down the swelling crowds at the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. But it will take a lot of effort to get the millions of pilgrims, who are either camped in Haridwar and Rishikesh or are on their way for the holy dip, to now return without having their wish fulfilled. Roughly, 2.8 million people took a dip in the holy Ganges on April 12 (Somvati Amavasya Snan day, second of the four