Kumbh ends: 70 lakh participated in ‘scaled down’ mela held amid virus surge
Held over three months in normal circumstances, the Kumbh Mela this time formally begun as late as April 1 due to concerns over COVID-19.
By PTI| Posted by Nikita Venkatesh | Published: 30th April 2021 8:43 pm IST Seers taking a dip in River Ganges as a part of last royal bath. (PTI photo)
Dehradun: Seventy lakh devotees participated in Haridwar’s Kumbh Mela, the mammoth religious congregation which ended Friday after triggering a scare that it might have acted as a COVID-19 super-spreader .
Despite the huge number of people gathering around Haridwar to take a dip in the holy Ganga, the 2021 event was a comparatively modest event reduced to just one month and scaled down midway due to the raging pandemic.
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No crowds now: With akhadas pulling out, Kumbh virtually over
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Last Updated: Apr 19, 2021, 07:13 PM IST
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Synopsis
There is hardly any crowd now at the bathing ghats where droves of sadhus and common devotees had gathered for a dip in the river on the ‘shahi snan of April 14, defying Covid-19 norms like social distancing. Most of the devotees have already left and the akhadas have been winding up their camps one after another.
PTI
Crowds at the ghats of Ganga in Haridwar have thinned down drastically after the key ‘akhadas of seers began pulling out of the Maha Kumbh, citing the surge in coronavirus numbers.
Crowds at the ghats of Ganga in Haridwar have thinned down drastically after the key akhadas of seers began pulling out of the Maha Kumbh, citing the surge in coronavirus numbers. Many spots on Monday wore a deserted look, an unimaginable sight during the Haridwar kumbh mela which will formally close only on April 30. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday had appealed to the sadhus to observe the remaining duration of the kumbh only in a symbolic manner. There is hardly any crowd now at the bathing ghats where droves of sadhus and common devotees had gathered for a dip in the river on the shahi snan of April 14, defying Covid-19 norms like social distancing.