The Prayagraj Kumbh Mela began on Tuesday morning with the holy Shahi Snan at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
Security measures have been heightened in Prayagraj and surrounding areas for the auspicious occasion.
ALSO READ: Prayagraj railway station gets final touch-ups ahead of Kumbh 2019
Besides saints and seers, foreign tourists have also started coming to attend the event.
On Monday, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan had launched special weather services for Kumbh Mela at a function in New Delhi which will provide information about the prevailing weather condition and forecasts to the people visiting Prayagraj during Kumbh Mela.
“We have started a checking campaign in view of the Kumbh Mela. Government Railway Police (GRP), Civil Police, Railway Protection Force (RPF) among others conducted the checking,” Arvind Kumar, Station Officer- Government Railway Police, earlier said.
The Kumbh Mela is the largest human congregation in the world, with over 130 million pilgrims expected to participate in the festival.
In the wake of the mega event, the Indian Railways had last week announced five special trains to handle the extra rush of passengers.
A superfast special train between Allahabad Jn. and Delhi’s Anand Vihar Terminal will make a total of 24 round trips between the two terminal stations between January 15 and March 3. It will stop only at Fatehpur, Kanpur Central and Aligarh Jn. stations in both the directions.
The railways will also run trains from Punjab’s Bathinda to the Prayag Ghat (4 trips), from Bathinda to Phaphamau (2 trips), from Himachal Pradesh’s Amb Andaura to Prayag Ghat (6 trips) and from Chandigarh to Prayag Ghat (6 trips).
An area of 20 lakh sq.ft area, has been designated for the street art projects under an initiative by Kumbh Mela Authority called ‘Paint my city.’ Paintings include renowned Indian personalities, Gods and Goddesses.
For the visitors of Mela, the administration has put up 1.22 lakh toilets in line with the theme of ‘Swachh Kumbh, Surakshit Kumbh.’
In order to meet the drinking water needs of devotees, the Kumbh Mela authority has also installed a total of 50 reverse osmosis (RO) water ATMs at various locations.
The Kumbh Mela will end on March 4.
Click here for Latest News updates and viral videos on our AI-powered smart news genie