While chants of Jai Siya Ram filled the streets and ghats of Nashik, Har Har Mahadeo echoed through the temple town of Trimbakeshwar. Lakhs of pilgrims started arriving in Nashik a day earlier.
Fervour of faith, enthusiasm and festivity filled the banks of Godavari in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar as more than 25 lakh sadhus, mahants and pilgrims took the holy dip on the occasion of the second Shahi Snan Parvani of the on going Kumbh Mela on Sunday.
While chants of Jai Siya Ram filled the streets and ghats of Nashik, Har Har Mahadeo echoed through the temple town of Trimbakeshwar. Lakhs of pilgrims started arriving in Nashik a day earlier. Since 1 am on Sunday, groups of people started pouring in on the Ram ghat to take the holy dip. The Parvani considered to be important as it fell on the day of Amavasya. The police bandobast was not as strict as the last Parvani but it ensured smooth flow of crowd as barricading was used wherever necessary. Internal traffic was allowed to certain nearest points in the city so that people could reach the ghat area easily. People coming from other cities were taken in buses to internal parking areas from where the distance to the ghat was shorter.
Shahi Miravanuk — the procession of sadhus and mahants — began from the Sadhugram at 5:52 am with the Shree Nirmohi Ani Vaishnav Akhada leading it. The number of sadhus in all the akhadas and khalsas saw an increase this time. The Nirmohi akhada was held for a while en route to allow its Nishan — the flag — join the procession in accordance with the tradition. Nirmohi akhada reached Ramkund where the first puja of the Nishan, Istadevata Hanuman was done. Shree Mahant of the akhada Rajendradas and Jagatguru Walllabhacharya took the first holy dip as was the right awarded to them this time.
The Shree Digambar Ani Akhada followed Nirmohi but as the number of the khalsas of the Digambar akhada is very large, the procession took time to organise. In the meantime, the Shree Nirvani Ani Akhada started its procession led by Mahant Ayodhyadas and Mahant Gyandas. Some khalsas of the Digambar Ani Akhada then followed. After the holy bath of the akhadas and khalsas was over around 12 noon, Ramkund was thrown open to the public. Till then, people took bath on the Laxminarayan, Talkuteshwar, Rokdoba, Kapurthalla and Nilkantheswar ghats in very large numbers.
Police did a splendid job of managing the crowds and allowed all those who wanted to reach Ramkund and take a dip. This did create some pressure at the narrow area of Ramkund from 1 pm to 2 pm. "The bandobast went as planned and we were facilitative to the pilgrims so that they could see the Shahi Miravanuk as well as reach the ghats to take the dip. No changes were made in the bandobast that was planned considering the crowd inflow. We have been seeing continuous and steady flow of people since July 14 and the second Parvani saw the largest number of pilgrims visiting," stated commissioner of police S Jagganathan. "The police did a very good job and the event passed off incident-free. There were a large number of pilgrims visiting and they could take part in the procession and the holy dip peacefully. This parvani was very well managed," stated Mahant Gyandas, chief of vaishnav akhadas and president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad.
Guardian minister and Kumbhmela Girish Mahajan himself was standing in the waters of Ramkund greeting the sadhu mahants and urging them to finish their holy bath peacefully. Revenue commissioner Eknath Dawale, municipal commissioner Dr Pravin Gedam also supervised the situation. In Trimbakeshwar too the second Parvani saw a lot of enthusiasm with the Shaddarshan Shaiva akhadas taking the holy dip one after the other in a very planned manner. The Shree Panch Niranjani Akhada led the other nine akhadas in taking the dip and started their procession at midnight. The Naga sadhus of the Shaiva akhadas jumped into the waters of Godavari at Kushawarta pond to take the holy dip. The processions were marked by chantings of Har Har Mahadeo and beating of drums and music. Flower petals were showered on the manhants and sadhus who were sitting in decorated vehicles. Large number of followers were lined up in the narrow lanes of Trimbakeshwar to see the procession.
The police and administration managed a crowd of about 7 lakh to 10 lakh in Trimbakeshwar well and people were seen following the instructions. District collector Depndrasingh Kushawa, Police IG (Special Range) JJ Singh and superintendent of police Sanjay Mohite personally supervised the crowd flow and the event. "There was a very large crowd in Trimbakeshwar since Saturday. We had made some changes in the bandobast facilitating people to reach Kushwarta. The new ghats were not much preferred by the pilgrims and most of them went to Kushwarta. We had to manage the inflow and outflow of the public so as not not let it build up at any place. The akhadas and local residents were very helpful," stated SP Mohite.
"All went very well and there was no pressure on the administration. People have enjoyed the Parvani and it was well managed," stated district collector Dipendra Singh Kushawa.
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