On Wednesday, the world’s biggest congregation, the Ardh Kumbh Mela has been begun at Allahabad. The Akhada sadhus are the mostly looking group in the Ardha Kumbh Mela.
An akhada is usually a place for wrestlers, but at the Kumbh sadhus are the real players of Akhada. The main aim of the more than 1500 years old Akhadas is to protect the Hindu religion and its traditions.
Mahant govindachrya Bhramachari, Agni Akhada said that there are 13 akhadas across the country. Shankaracharya had set up first few Akhadas in India.The Juna akhada is said to be the biggest Akhada with more than 60 lakh sadhus.
Among all the sadhus, the Naga sadhus are the most popular as well as more aggressive. They always carry weapons with them.
The Ardh Kumbh will go on for a month and a half. 20,000 police officers have been deployed to look the security measures at the place.
According to the Hindus believe, taking bath at Sangam of three rivers, Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati would wash away their sins.
Groups of people have been coming to the take dip in the sangam from across the country. The groups of foreign pilgrims have also been arriving in the city.
With such large crowds gathering, the biggest fear is a stampede. The security agencies are busy and concerned about that.
According to the official sources, six to eight million pilgrims came to take a dip at Sangam on the first day of the festival.
They said that we are expecting the maximum crowd on 19 January when more than 40 million people are expected to take a bath on that one single day.
