Third royal bath

Nearly 25 lakh pilgrims and sadhus today took a holy dip in the river Ganga on the occasion of third royal bath of the ongoing Mahakumbh. Sadhus and other pilgrims have taken a dip in the river Ganga, said Kumbh Mela Officer Anand Vardhan. Twenty-eight representative Sadhus and seers, belonging to seven sanyasi (Shaiv) 'akharas' (Hindu orders) of Joona, Niranjani, Atal, Aahwan, Anand, Mahanirvani and Agni were the first, who took bath at Brahmkund area of Har-Ki-Pauri, the main bathing ghat, on the occasion of Chaitra Purnima, which has been declared as a royal bath for the first time. Sanyasi akharas were followed by the sadhus belonging to Bairagi (Vaishnav) Akharas of Nirmohi Ani, Digambar Ani, Nirwani Ani, Bada Udasin, Naya Udasin and Nirmal, who reached at Har-Ki-Pauri in the form of procession.

Thousands of Sadhus including Khalsa, Dakor and Ramanandacharyas attended the impressive procession, which was led by Mahant Gyan Das, president of Akil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad. Lakhs of devotees were seen standing on both sides of the road with folded hands braving scorching heat to witness the procession. Other bathing ghats of Haridwar and Rishikesh were also flooded with pilgrims since early morning. Elaborate security arrangements were made for the third royal bath. The bath passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported from anywhere, Vardhan said. This was the third royal bath of the ongoing Mahakumbh mela, that began on Jan 14 with Makar Sankranti.

Eleven major baths, including four royal baths were scheduled during the Mahakumbh. The fourth and the last royal bath would be held on April 14.