Prayagraj: Millions of people are gathering everyday at the Mahakumbh Mela to take a dip at the Triveni Sangam — confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers. The rush was even bigger on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, for the Amrit Snan (holy bath), on Wednesday.
The favourite, and most sacred spot has emerged as the ‘Sangam Nose’, where devotees are flocking for a holy dip. It was during one such frenetic rush in the early hours of January 29 when a stampede-like situation claimed 15 lives and injured around 100 others.
The Sangam Nose is that area where saints and spiritual leaders from different akhadas perform their ritual baths.
Sangam Nose is a triangular mass of land sandwiched between the Ganga in the north and Yamuna in the south, before they merge.
Hindus believe that a dip in the Sangam will help wash away their sins, and free them from the cycle of birth and rebirth. And since Mahakumbh comes once every 144 years, taking a bath in the holy waters the entire humanity seems to have converged at Prayagraj.
The Sangam Nose is a part of the sprawling 4,000-hectare Kumbhmela site.
Five of the 25 sectors comprising the Kumbhmela site are fall in the Sangam Nose. Sectors 1 and 2 are where most of the temporary government offices are housed, including police posts and lost and found centres, while Sectors 3 and 4 are located much closer to the Sangam Nose.
There are numerous bathing ghats on the riverbanks of Ganga and Yamuna that are part of the Mela site.
But an overwhelming majority of devotees wants to reach Sangam Nose for the holy dip, due to its unique location at the confluence of the holy rivers.
On Wednesday, too, a sea of devotees broke through barriers and barricades to make their way towards the nose at Triveni Sangam. In the ensuing stampede, many of those who were sleeping were run over, some others pushed to the ground and trampled to death.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath joined officials, police and security personnel in appealing to the devotees to avoid flocking to Sangam Nose, and take dips at other ghats which are relatively less crowded.
“Around 8-10 crore devotees are present in Prayagraj today. There is continuous pressure due to the movement of devotees towards the Sangam Nose,” Yogi said.
“Ghats have been made in the entire Kumbh area, devotees don’t need to move towards Sangam nose only. Devotees should take a holy dip in the ghats nearest to them,” Yogi advised devotees.
Yogi’s government expanded the Sangam Nose ahead of Mahakumbh 2025, adding around 26 hectares of land between Shastri Bridge (on Ganga river) and Sangam Nose.
The expansion was aimed to enable 2 lakh devotees to bathe every hour — a four-time increase compared to the 2019 Kumbh Mela.
During Poush Purnima on January 13 and the first Amrit Snan on January 14, over 3 lakh devotees took dips per hour at the Kumbh Nose.
Mauni Amavasya January 29 was the second Amrit Snan of the 45-day Mahakumbh 2025. The third and final Shahi Snan day is on February 3, on the occasion of Basant Panchami.
