Mahakumbh Mela 2025: The Adani Group and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) have joined hands to serve meals to devotees at Prayagraj
Our Bureau
Prayagraj/Ahmedabad
The Mahakumbh is being celebrated after 12 years, and over 4.5 crore (45 million) devotees are expected for the event. During the Mahakumbh, devotees will gather at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers, to take a holy dip believed to absolve sins and grant moksha (liberation). The Mahakumbh will conclude on February 26.
The Adani Group and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) have joined hands to serve meals to devotees at the Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj.
The Mahaprasad Seva will be offered for the entire duration of the Mahakumbh Mela, from January 13 to February 26.
To thank ISKCON for this initiative, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani met Guru Prasad Swami, the Chairman of ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC), on Thursday. Speaking about ISKCON’s support in offering the Mahaprasad Seva, Gautam Adani said, “Kumbh is a sacred place of seva, where every devotee gets involved in the name of seva to God. It is my good fortune that we are starting the ‘Mahaprasad Seva’ for the devotees at the Maha Kumbh in collaboration with ISKCON.”
“With the blessings of Maa Annapurna, free food will be provided to lakhs of devotees. Today, I got the opportunity to meet Guru Prasad Swamiji of ISKCON and I deeply experienced the power of dedication towards seva. In the true sense, seva is the highest form of patriotism. Seva is meditation, seva is prayer and seva is God,” he added.
The Mahaprasad Seva will be offered to 50 lakh devotees and the meals would be prepared in two kitchens in and outside the Mela area. The Mahaprasad will be distributed at 40 places in the Mahakumbh area and 2,500 volunteers will be involved in this initiative.
Golf carts have been arranged for the differently abled, elderly and mothers with children. Five lakh copies of Geeta Saar will also be distributed among the devotees.
Also, the Uttar Pradesh government has extended invitations to popular artists from across the country including singer Shankar Mahadevan Mohit Chauhan, Shaan and Kailash Kher to perform at the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025.
The grand cultural event will take place from January 16 to February 24 in Prayagraj, with an impressive lineup of popular artists from various fields.
The festivities will begin with a performance by Mahadevan on the opening day, while Mohit Chauhan will close the event with his soulful music on the final day. Throughout the Maha Kumbh, several acclaimed artists, including Kailash Kher, Shaan Mukherjee, Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Kavita Seth, Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, Shovana Narayan, Dr. L Subramaniam, Bickram Ghosh, Malini Awasthi, and many others, will perform at the event while creating a mesmerizing spiritual environment for the devotees.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Prayagraj to review the preparations for the Maha Kumbh. He visited various akharas and met sadhus.
During his visit, the CM also took the ‘Nishadraj’ cruise in the Sangam ghat area and reviewed preparations. He was accompanied by officials during the visit.
Earlier, speaking about the security and safety arrangements, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said that the administration has deployed 125 ambulances that have been equipped with 15 advanced life support (ASL) systems, which extend basic life support in case of emergency.
“One hundred and twenty-five road ambulances have been equipped with 15 Advance Life Support (ALS). Additionally, air ambulances and seven river ambulances have also been deployed. Of the seven river ambulances, you will get to see one of them being deployed today and the rest will be stationed from tomorrow. The government has made proper arrangements to deal with any kind of situation,” Pathak said.
Inspector General of Police, Prayagraj Tarun Gaba on Wednesday said that a 7-layer security scheme is being implemented to avert any untoward incident in the mass religious gathering.
“Mahakumbh 2025 is the biggest gathering of humanity… We are committed to providing good arrangements here and the Mahakumbh festival should be celebrated in a very safe and orderly manner… We are ensuring impenetrable and foolproof security here. We have implemented a 7-layer security scheme in which people will be checked and suspicious persons will be identified at different levels. We are also coordinating with different agencies including state and center agencies,” Tarun Gaba said.
“We are also trying to utilize AI-enabled cameras and using a total of 2700 cameras. And we are taking all necessary action to ensure a safe and secure completion of Maha Kumbh,” he added.
