The Hindu : Ujjain gets a facelift for Kumbh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 02, 2004

Other States

Other States - Madhya Pradesh

Ujjain gets a facelift for Kumbh

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL, APRIL 1. The Madhya Pradesh Government agencies that have been working round the clock are busy these days giving final touches to the preparations for the Simhasta Kumbh beginning at Ujjain on April 5.

The Ujjain Simhasta beginning with the "shahi snan'' (royal bath) on April 5 will end on May 4 with another `shahi snan'. The other days chosen by astrologers for sacred bathing during the Simhasta festival are April 19, April 22 and April 24. The Mahakumbha festival is celebrated every 12 years at Ujjain, Haridwar, Allahabad and Nashik. It is celebrated at Ujjain when the Sun and planet Jupiter enter the signs of Aries and Leo. A dip in the holy Kshipra river at Ujjain, famous for the Dakshinamukhi Jyotirlinga of Lord Sri Mahakaleshwar, is considered very auspicious during this planetary transition.

Over two-dozen Madhya Pradesh Government departments, led by the State Chief Minister, Uma Bharti and Minister for Simhasta 2004, Kailash Vijayvargiya, have been coordinating the State Government initiative for the success of the Mahakumbha at Ujjain.

It has been the endeavour of the State Government to build permanent structures besides making temporary arrangements for the boarding and lodging of the different Akharas of sadhus and pilgrims during the Simhasta, a State Government spokesman pointed out. He said that all efforts have been geared towards making the Simhasta 2004 an unforgettable event. With this objective, he said, several permanent structures have been built and there has been large-scale widening of roads, lanes and by-lanes by removing encroachments.

The Kshipra Ghats have been upgraded, the inner and outer roads in the city have been repaired to handle the increase in flow of traffic, the spokesman said. The famous observatory built by Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur has also been renovated.

Special security and other arrangements have been made at the sacred Mahakal temple to regulate the movement of devotees coming to this temple for darshan.

The Ujjain district administration has also requisitioned a helicopter during the entire Simhasta phase to keep an aerial check on the situation at Ujjain on a day-to-day basis.

In view of the huge logistic support, both in terms of manpower and resources, that would need to be mobilised, the State Government had even made a case for holding the parliamentary elections in single phase on May 10 in Madhya Pradesh. However the Election Commission did not accede to this and fixed May 5 and 10 as the polling dates.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News Update

Stories in this Section

Ujjain gets a facelift for Kumbh