Thousands of Saints, Sadhus and devotees of ‘Akhil Bharatiya Akhada’ enter Kumbha region

Prayagraj – Thousands of Sadhus, Saints and devotees from ‘Akhil Bharatiya Vaishnav ani Aakhada’ entered the Kumbha area on 8th January 2025. Acharya Mahamandaleshwar, Mahant, Jagatguru Shankaracharya along with his devotees entered the city in procession. They were riding on elephants, horses, and camels. The grand procession entered the Kumbha region, staging live demonstrations with swords and hundreds of floats depicting religious and cultural events.

Grand procession of Akhadas

Sadhu-Saints from ‘Nirvani’, ‘Nirmohi’ and ‘Digambar’ akhada participated in this grand procession. Different akhadas made their own different floats. The floats depicted leelas (Divine play) of different incarnations of Shri Vishnu. The procession was also joined by Naga-sadhus in large numbers. Many Sadhus and devotees carried various weapons like swords, trishul, parashu etc. Live demonstrations exhibiting use of weapons were staged throughout the procession.

Thousands of devotees gathered on both sides of the route of this procession. They showered flowers on ‘Sadhus-Saints’ while women performed aarti during the procession. The cleaning staff was present on the route to maintain cleanliness.

Procession taken out under tight Police security

The procession was taken out under tight Police security. Horse rider Police personnel were present at the beginning of the procession, while Police personnel with guns were patrolling on the route of the procession. Horse rider cops were protecting the procession from its beginning till the entry into Kumbha Mela.

State Environment Minister joins procession

Arun Kumar Saxena, UP’s Environment Minister, also joined the procession. He gave a message to all visitors to maintain cleanliness and carry bags with them to collect trash. He also distributed eco-friendly bags to people and appealed to prevent use of plastic bags for carrying prasad, flowers, old clothes etc.