KUMBH MELA – AND INDIAN RAILWAYS

KUMBH MELA – AND INDIAN RAILWAYS Spiritual Master Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who recently led the World Meditation Day on the 21st of December very aptly captures Kumbh Mela: “The Kumbh Mela is one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism. The word Kumbh has been derived from the Sanskrit word Kumbh meaning 'pot' or 'pitcher' and Mela means 'festival' that is why it is known as "the pitcher festival". It is a fair that energizes your mind and soul. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Ganga is a symbol of knowledge and Yamuna symbolizes love. Prayag (where Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet) is the unity of love and wisdom. When love and wisdom meets, celebration happens. Kumbh means coming together of saints, scholars and katha vachaks (story tellers). They participate in discussion and meditation with the sankalpa (positive intention) of universal benefit. People needn't go to all the different places. They can all come to one place. The concept of mela started in India. Nowadays we call it expo. There are expos for motors, books, clothes to present all the products in one place. On similar concept all the saints used to congregate in one place once in 12 years. In those days transport facilities were not so extensive and traveling would take so much time. Kumbh mela provided an opportunity for people to converse and exchange knowledge with each other. If you see it from planetary perspective, Kumbh happens when Jupiter enters Aquarius. By bathing in the Ganges, the chitta (consciousness) becomes joyful. Your consciousness is purified. The sins are washed away. It's so beautiful. The sins are so superficial that just by a dip in the Ganges they can be washed away. The ever-pure consciousness can never be dirtied.” A Peep into the history of Prayagraj Prayagraj is a prominent city in the most populous state of India that is Uttar Pradesh. There are as many as 80 Lok Sabha seats from this gargantuan state. There is a significant saying, that the party which is the sovereign and suzerain of Uttar Pradesh (the Hindi Heartland) conquers India. The road to Delhi traverses through Uttar Pradesh. Quintessentially, the state has sent Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Chandrashekar, Atal Bihari Vajapayee, and Narendra Damodar das Modi to the Parliament of India, who all were catapulted to scale the summit and become the Prime Ministers of the largest democracy of the world. Even Gulzari Lal Nanda who was to twice hold the prized and coveted position of the Prime Minister of India albeit as a caretaker hailed from Uttar Pradesh. Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical and invisible Saraswati rivers, is considered to be pre-eminently holy by Hindus. The Sangam is in close proximity to the 16th century Allahabad Fort, built by Mughal Emperor Akbar. In the fort are several architectural marvels such as the ancient sandstone Ashoka Pillar, the underground Patalpuri Temple and a sacred banyan tree. The estimable Allahabad University where eminent Hindi poets like Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Firaq Gorakhpuri (Raghupat Sahay) imparted English was once known to be a factory churning out dozens of civil servants. With the passage of time, this ‘Oxford of East’ has lost the prima donna spot. The bustling city which is the cradle of ‘Kumbh Mela’ organised once in twelve years is teeming with a large population and is quintessentially catholic and pluralistic in nature. The landscape is dotted with mosques where the muezzin reads passages of the Holy Quran and several churches and Christian landmarks and edifices dot the city, apart from Hindu temples. This is also the place where the revolutionaries were to wage a war against the diabolical and tyrannical British rule. Chandrashekar Azad fired the imagination of the youth to pull the trigger to combat the British. The history of the idol of Shri Bade Hanumanji, situated at the Sangam Kshetra of Prayag is very unique. The internal story connected with the history of the idol goes like this. In the city of Kannauj an opulent but issueless trader resided. He was blessed with large sums of money and material and all the enjoyments of life; but tragically did not have a child who could carry on the legacy. In sheer desperation the trader traversed to the foothills of Vindhyachal to construct a temple for Hanuman ji in order to fulfil his wish of being blessed with a son. In the chain of hills of Vindhyachal the merchant had constructed a huge statue of Hanuman ji out of stone. He decided to bathe the statue of Hanuman ji at several places of pilgrimage. While bathing this statue of Hanuman ji at different pilgrim spots he eventually arrived at Sangam Kshetra of Prayag. While he was taking rest as the shadows fell and the sun sank in the womb of the Prayag, he dreamt that if he would leave the statue at this holy place all wishes would be fulfilled and the hankerings would drop. At crack of dawn the following day he decided to work on the lines of the previous night’s dream. Thus, he left the statue at Prayag Kshetra and the luxuriant purveyor left for his city, Kannauj. After a passage of time, a son was born to his wife by the munificence of Shri Bade Hanuman ji. After some time, the huge statue of Shri Bade Hanuman ji remained submerged in the waters and got embroiled under the sands. Meanwhile a mendicant Mahatma who was performing penance with Vyaghracharma arrived at Sangam Kshetra in the holy month of Magha to take a dip at Triveni. The pious and perspicacious sage was known by the name Balgiri. Fortunately, on one day when the Mahatma was piercing his Trishul(trident) in the sand to form his dhooine, he got an inkling of a gargantuan statute through his clairvoyant powers. The sagacious Mahatma Balgiri began to sift the sand from the spot. He soon spotted the Shri Vighrah (statue) of Shri Bade Hanuman ji. After purifying the Shri Vighrah, he meditated on the valorous qualities of Lord Hanuman. Populace in the neighbourhood were subsumed with the effulgence and radiance of Lord Hanuman and the devotion and miraculous qualities of sage Balgiri. The aura and fame of Shri Bade Hanuman ji expanded rapidly. There is another twist to the tale of the Shri Vigrah. It is believed that Mahatma Shri Balgiri ji Maharaj was bestowed with the mammoth statue of Lord Hanuman. He made valiant efforts to make the statue stand erect but he failed. Subsequently the statue was tried to be laid in the fort. After numerous abortive efforts, devotees were unable to remove the idol from its place. Thus, it was conjectured and concurred that Shri Bade Hanuman ji did not wish to be removed from that particular place. All efforts were terminated and consequently the statue was left at the place where it was first established by saint Balgiri. To this day thousands pay their obeisance to Lord Hanuman on the banks of the Ganges. Flashback 2019 – A challenge for the Indian Railways and the State Administration I recall those chilly wintry days at Prayagraj where I was posted as the Principal Chief Operations Manager of North Central Railway and along with our team of Traffic officers (IRTS) closely coordinated the preparations for the Kumbh Mela. Careers of railway officers and state administration get made or crucified on the way they handle Kumbh Mela. Preparations begin at least two years in advance wherein the officials of the state government and railway administration work hand in glove to ensure the preparations. It was an eye opener experience attending the meetings convened by the visionary Minister of State of Railways, Shri Manoj Sinha, the charismatic Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath and the ones convened with diligence by the Chairman Railway Board, Chief Secretary Uttar Pradesh and Director General of Police Uttar Pradesh and General Managers of North Central Railway, Northern Railway and North Eastern Railway to address all glitches and tie up all knots. It was amazing to see the city transform as dozens of flyovers were constructed to overcome traffic congestion , Prayagraj airport was redeveloped and redesigned to accommodate pilgrim and tourist traffic and several stations like Prayagraj junction, Naini junction, Prayagraj Chheoki , Subedarganj station , Prayagaraj Junction , Phaphamau junction , Prayagraj Sangam , Jhunsi and Prayagraj Rambag ) expanded their capacities to handle pilgrim traffic and around 24 pontoons constructed across the holy river Ganges which was the pathway of the devout to traverse the massive remember. The pontoons reminded one of Rama Setu where Lord Rama along with his monkey brigade (Vanar Sena) marshalled by Wind God Hanumanji crossed over to Lanka to vanquish the demon king Ravana. In this case in modern times a dip in the holy river and by crossing it by the pontoon is akin to overcome our fears and negative thoughts and emotions. We had an able team of operating and commercial officers who seamlessly managed the movement of freight and passenger trains. The mandate of Railway Board was to ensure safe passage of the 1 crore pilgrims who arrived at the holy city of Prayagraj for the Shahi Snans (bathing days) and ensure the mandatory 40 freight trains (which included a large number of BOXN empty rakes meant for coal loading) were to be despatched at DDU or Deendayal Upadhyaya junction) without any fail, barring the Shahi Snan (auspicious bathing days). It was heartening to see North Central Railway handling almost a thousand trains as close to a crore faithful people disembark at the railway stations and board trains back to their destinations from control room set up at Prayagraj railway station. The staff and officers of North Central Railway and those on loan from Indian Railways put in their heart and souls 24x7 without any adverse encumbrance. No one wonder Indian Railways is aptly called the lifeline of the nation. Come 2025 – Kumbh Mela and Indian Railways Once again, the state administration under the dynamic leadership of the Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath and at the national level monitored closely by the rock -solid three-time Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi have left no stone unturned to make the event a gigantic success. Further under the directions of the far-sighted Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnav Indian Railways has embarked on initiatives towards a Digital Maha Kumbh. On the holy occasion of Maha Kumbh, the following steps have been initiated - Enhanced Visitor Experience 1) Development of Maha Kumbh Rail Seva Website 2) Development of Mahakumbh Rail Seva App on Android platforms. 3) Call Centre with Toll Free Number 18004199139 which is already functional and would become multilingual as we usher in the New Year. 4) Touch screen kiosks 5) Around 20 additional mobile towers and 15 boosters have been installed for effective communication. - Advanced Ticketing and Information Systems 1)Installation of 96 Mobile UTS 2) QR -based Ticketing Payments 3) Digital Signage Boards 4) Provision of Video Walls 5) Multilingual announcement with help of advanced software. 6) Close to around 10 lakh tickets would be issued daily for the benefit of the spiritual seekers. - Security Arrangements 1) Video Analytics based FRS Cameras makes a maiden entry 2) Usage of drone cameras for crowds and track surveillance 3) Usage of body worn cameras 4) Extensive usage of CCTV for maintaining vigil on the teeming devotees. 5) First time usage of AI in crowd forecasting in collaboration with the Mela authorities 6) Setting up of a state of art Mahakumbh War Room in the Prayagraj Divisional control office. Like always direction wise passengers will be tackled to avoid any melee. For instance, Prayajraj and Naini stations will cater to the traffic of Kanpur, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Satna and Jhansi traffic. While Cheokki and Subedarganj would deal with the pilgrims hailing from DeenDayal Upadhyay, Satna and Jhansi areas and Subedarganj would cater to the devout of Kanpur area. Phaphamau and Prayagraj have been earmarked to the pilgrims of Ayodhya, Jaunpur and Lucknow, while Jhansi and Rambagh stations would receive and move traffic towards Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Mau areas. The popularity of Mahakumbh Mela can be gauged as the number of special trains would increase manifold from 5694 trains to 13234. This is a quantum jump of the pilgrims in quest of their paradise. For all the spiritual sojourners the Shahi Snans are of immense importance. The days are Paush Poornima, Makar Sankranti, Mauni Amavasya, Basant Panchami, Maghee Poornima, MahaShivaratri and other days where Naga Sadhus, naked Sadhus, spiritual masters, Hindu religious leaders, the faithful, devout, bag packers, tippers and onlookers converge on the holy city of Prayagraj to have the elusive dip in the Sangam to wash away their Karmas. For enhanced experience of the travellers – elaborate and modern waiting halls , sleeping pods , retiring rooms , dormitories , executive lounges ( for the opulent) , battery operated cars for senior citizens and those with infirmities , extensive usage of wheel chairs , modern capacity, first aid boxes for medical emergencies , Yatri Suvidha Kendras , tourist booths , Pradhan Mantri Jan Ausadhi Kendras , Provision of Multilingual Announcements and Cloak Rooms have been established at various stations. It would be noteworthy to mention that Northern Railway, North Central Railway and North Eastern Railway are constructing ROBs/ RUBs at a cost of Rs 438 crs and various passenger amenities works to a tune of Rs 494 crs which aggregates to Rs 933.62 crs for the benefit of the seeker in search of divine bliss. Coupled with above major infrastructure and capacity enhancement works have been undertaken like construction of new washing lines, station remodelling of Prayagraj and Subedarganj , doubling of Varanasi – Prayagraj , Jhangai- Phaphamau , development of Prayagraj and Phaphamau railway stations under the Amrit Station Scheme in this Viksit Bharat and Amrit Kaal era. The tech savvy railways in the fast paced changing times is deploying X, You Tube, Instagram and Facebook in a huge way to popularise Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 for the benefit of the spiritual and religious sojourner and the world as a whole. All these activities have galvanised three railways namely North Central Railway, Northern Railway and North Eastern Railway to provide quality service to the pilgrim / tourist in search of the quintessential truth as he takes the dip in the Triveni/ Sangam during the Shahi Snan days or other days. This is a onetime experience which rises above faith and devotion and connects one with divinity as one braces the cold and chilly weather and finds warmth in the comfort of Mother Ganges which should not be given a miss. See you at the holy city of Prayagraj during MahaKumbh. I hope to be with Pujya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar like the last time in 2019. “The Maha Kumbh 2025 will be a magnificent celebration of India’s spiritual and cultural heritage. Together, let us ensure its grand success,” PM Narendra Modi called for collective efforts from citizens and authorities alike. This testifies the importance and significance of the celebration.