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A 60-year-old seer from Ahmedabad succumbed to Corona on the last day of ‘shahi snan’ (royal bath) for akharas on Tuesday. According to officials, around 25,000 pilgrims and seers turned up on the royal bath. The number was much less than the previous shahi snans when Haridwar witnessed sea of seers to the tune of 2.8 million (28 lakh).
The month-long Kumbh turned into a major Covid threat amid a huge congregation of the humans at one place. Despite all claims, officials failed to test seers for Covid-19 till April 15 staying in different akharas. The sudden spike in cases though left the government in a tizzy. The seers accepted demand to undergo the test only after two major ‘shahi snans’ had held. But by then it was too late.
Rakesh Puri,60, a seer associated with Niranjani Akhara who was ill due to Covid-19 for the last few days died here at Ashram as Haridwar recorded 1,024 new Covid cases on Tuesday. Estimates suggest since April 15, around 10,000 have tested positive in the holy city.
Moreover, at least three Mahamandleshwar – seers of the highest order – who participated in Kumbh died owing to Covid. The former King of Nepal Gyanendra who attended the Kumbh with his wife was tested positive soon he reached Nepal. Shravan of the famous Nadeem Shravan musical duo from the era of 90s Bollywood music succumbed to Covid in Mumbai after he returned from Haridwar Kumbh.
However, after the rising cases in the third week of April, Niranjani and Juna Akhara announced they will exit Kumbh Mela. But a couple of akharas were adamant to participate in the last ‘shahi snan’ but it was a “symbolic” affair as seers turned up in limited numbers.
Meanwhile C Ravishakar, the district magistrate, announced curfew in some cities of the district including Haridwar from tonight till May 3. With this, Haridwar becomes 6th district in Uttarakhand besides Dehradun, Pauri, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar and Champawat witnessing Covid curfew.
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