Thousands take holy dip at Kumbh on 'Maghi Purnima'

Prayagraj, Feb 19: Hundreds and thousands of devotees, seers, pilgrims and tourists on Tuesday took a holy dip in the Sangam -- the trinity of holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati -- on the occasion of "Maghi Purnima", officials said.

The officials expect over a crore of devotees to participate in the fifth royal bath of the Kumbh Mela this year.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the heavy rush of people that started arriving in Kumbhnagar here since Monday night, said Vijay Kiran Anand, officer in-charge of the Kumbh.

He said there were 96 watch towers placed across the Mela area along with 440 CCTV cameras maintaining a round-the-clock vigil.

Security has been beefed up following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, a police official told IANS. 

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Kumbh, K.P. Singh said that the "Maghi Purnima" holy dip was also crucial for the security as thousands of devotees who had taken a one-month-long 'Kalp Vaas' will be returning on Tuesday. 

Many special trains and buses of the Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Corporation (UPSRTC) have been deployed into service for their homebound journey.