LIVE: Maha Kumbh ends with final 'snan'; over 1.32 crore take holy dip

In view of the huge crowd before the last bathing day of the ongoing Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is operating 4,500 buses to take the devotees to their destination, the state government said in a statement.

Uttar Pradesh Roadways Regional Manager (Prayagraj region), MK Trivedi, said complete arrangements of buses have been made for all the routes of the state to carry the passengers to and from different parts of the state. In all, 3,050 buses have been allotted for this and these buses will operate from all six parking lots.

He said the maximum of 1,189 buses will be operated from Jhunsi parking lot. After this, 662 buses will be operated from Bela Kachhar parking, 667 from Nehru Park parking, 298 from Leprosy parking, 148 from Saraswati Dwar and 86 from Saraswati Hi-Tech City parking. The buses will be available every 10 minutes.

Trivedi said that 1,450 buses have been reserved for Mahashivratri bathing festival. Maximum 540 buses will be reserved in Jhunsi parking. Apart from this, 480 buses will be reserved in Bela Kachhar, 240 in Nehru Park, 120 in Saraswati Dwar and 70-70 buses will be reserved in Leprosy and Saraswati Hi-Tech City parking.

These buses will take the devotees from the parking lots to Mahakumbh Nagar.

Apart from these 1,450 buses, as many as 750 shuttle buses are available to take the devotees to the places near Mahakumbh Nagar from the temporary bus stations built around the city and shuttle service is available every two minutes.

Shuttle service has been made free from February 25 to 28, Trivedi said.

Elaborate arrangements are in place for Wednesday’s Mahashivratri snan at the Maha Kumbh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was constantly in touch with mela authorities to ensure a smooth snan on Mahashivratri, officials said.

“There are clear cut directives to ensure the safety and security of devotees. The CM is monitoring all the arrangements himself,” a senior official told PTI.

An elaborate advisory has been issued for devotees. The government also issued a statement detailing the advisory according to which pilgrims have been advised to take a dip at the ghats closest to them.

As per the advisory, those devotees coming from the Uttari Jhunsi route should go to Harishchandra Ghat and Old GT Ghat, and those from the Dakshini Jhunsi should use Arail Ghat.

A dip at Bharadwaj Ghat, Nagavasuki Ghat, Mori Ghat, Kali Ghat, Ram Ghat, and Hanuman Ghat has been advised for those devotees entering from Pande area.

The pontoon bridges would be operated on the basis of the pilgrim rush, the officials said.

“Devotees have been urged to avoid unnecessary movement and leave for their destinations after completing rituals,” an official said.

The devotional surge was quite apparent on Tuesday when over a crore pilgrims arrived at Mahakumbh Nagar, the makeshift 76th UP district set up for the event, the officials said.

According to the officials, 37,000 police personnel and 14,000 home guards have been deployed at Maha Kumbh for security arrangements while 2,750 AI-based CCTVs, three Jal Police stations, 18 Jal Police control rooms, and 50 watch towers are also there for safety and security of the devotees.

“Besides large-scale security arrangements, we are also monitoring social media 24x7 to check any spread of misinformation regarding the Maha Kumbh,” DIG (Kumbh) Vaibhav Krishna told PTI.

Security personnel remained on high alert through the night, closely monitoring the swelling crowds at Mahakumbh Nagar and the ghats.

Railway stations, roads, and entry points to the city witnessed a constant influx of devotees. Law enforcement agencies, including police, paramilitary forces, and disaster response teams, have been deployed in large numbers to manage the massive gathering, ensuring crowd control, security, and logistical coordination.

Surveillance drones, CCTV monitoring with AI-enabled cameras, and command centres have been set up to oversee real-time developments. Medical teams and emergency response units have been stationed at strategic points, with disaster management forces on standby.

Given the scale of the event and the sheer volume of attendees, authorities have enforced a “no vehicle zone” in the mela area and Prayagraj besides implementing strict crowd control measures and logistical support to facilitate a seamless culmination of Maha Kumbh 2025.

Overseeing preparations on the ground, DIG (Kumbh) Vaibhav Krishna said expansive police deployment has been made in the Mela area.

“We are prepared particularly to handle a two-pronged situation — one is the rush of devotees at the ghats, including Sangam, and the other is crowd management at five main Shivalayas in the mela area where devotees will offer sacred waters to Lord Shiva,” Krishna told PTI.

He added that the entire Mela area is “no-vehicle zone” since Tuesday evening and “no VIP treatment” will be accorded to anyone on Wednesday.

“We are expecting the footfall on Wednesday to be higher than it was on Tuesday (1.33 crore),” the DIG added.

To manage the heavy rush of departing pilgrims, the North Eastern Railway (NER) has deployed additional trains and strengthened security at key stations. NER CPRO Pankaj Kumar Singh said 60 trains, including regular, ring rail, long-distance, and special Mela trains, operated until 4 pm on February 25, with 25 more special trains running on Mahashivratri.

Security has been reinforced with 850 RPF personnel and 290 commercial staff at Jhusi station, while Prayagraj Rambagh has 500 RPF personnel and 250 commercial staff on duty.

Mega mics are being used at these stations to guide passengers, and additional rakes have been stationed at key locations to accommodate the post-Mahashivratri rush.

Pilgrims began arriving at the Triveni Sangam in the early hours of Wednesday for a holy dip on Mahashivratri, marking the culmination of the six-week-long Maha Kumbh, held once every 12 years and believed to grant moksha or salvation.

The day draws large crowds of devotees to the sacred confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati, considered holy by Hindus.

A total of 1.33 crore devotees immersed themselves at in the Sangam and other ghats in the Mela area on Tuesday, pushing the overall footfall during the Maha Kumbh 2025 to more than 64 crore, according to the Uttar Pradesh government.

The total number of visitors to the fair exceeds the population of all countries in the world except India and China, both of which have populations exceeding a billion, it said.

The Maha Kumbh has witnessed six special bathing dates — Paush Purnima on January 13, Makar Sankranti on January 14, Mauni Amavasya on January 29, Basant Panchami on February 3, Maghi Purnima on February 12, and Mahashivratri on February 26 — including three Amrit Snans.