PRAYAG: As the city of Sangam gears up to host its biggest Mahasnan (holy dip) in the ongoing Prayag Mahakumbh, there are intelligence reports that terrorists belonging to Kashmiri terrorist group Harkat-ul-Ansar are planning to cause disruption and stampede.
In the wake of hanging of Afzal Guru, the inputs are being taken seriously even as 1.5 crore people are already estimated to have poured into Prayag from all corners of the country, and abroad. Rapid Action Force has been deployed and there are rumours that even the help of Army may be sought to bolster the mela security, particularly around the Sangam Ghat area.
Sources said a cell of terrorists in the city were planning to cause a stampede on Sunday morning on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. Mela authorities are expecting a crowd to swell over 2.5 crore on Sunday. Given the huge congregation, the 
authorities are obviously not taking the threats lightly.
Additional director general of police Surya Kumar Shukla, however, denied there was any extraordinary concern about the threat perception. Mela CEO Mani Shankar Mishra too expressed hope that the present security arrangements were more than adequate, without going into further details.
According to intelligence inputs, one or two bombers belonging to HuA terror cell have been trying to infiltrate the ranks of sadhus in the akhadas.Though local police is that has not happened, it has virtually no way of ascertaining despite the covert and overt presence of scores and layers of security men belonging to home guards, local police, RAF and para-military forces all over the city.
Gujarat chief minister and BJP’s possible prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who is high on terrorists’ radar is slated to visit Kumbh three days later on February 12 for Kumbh snan and to meet the shankaracharyas, main Akhada heads and other top religious leaders.
Meanwhile, already the major akhadas are gearing up for the shahi snan scheduled for Sunday. As per the schedule, naga sadhus belonging to the Mahanirvani akhada, followed by Atal, Niranjani and Juna will take the first holy dip around 5.35am.
Due to recent rains, the water level in the Ganga has risen and also dirtied a little more than usual. However, that does not seem to deter the worshippers.
The mela area, spread over 20 kilometre area in Allahabad and divided in 14 temporary sectors is a veritable who’s who of the Hindu spiritual and religious pantheon. Amidst a cacophony of loud speakers, blaring hooters and beckons atop the VIPs and babas’ SUVs, there are a number of pandals that vie for attention of the Kumbh visitors. Many of the mela areas resemble a religious plaza. – Times of India, February 2013
Kumbha Mela: Huge crowd arrives for holy dip on ‘Mauni Amavasya’
Lakhs of devotees reached the bathing ghats here for a holy dip on the auspicious occasion of ‘Mauni Amavasya’ today in the ongoing Maha Kumbh congregation at the holy Sangam.
The day also marks the second ‘Shahi Snan’ of sadhus belonging to various ‘Akharas’.
According to a rough estimate by officials, the number of people to have taken a dip by the crack of dawn appears to be “not less than 20 lakhs” and the final turnout may exceed the projected estimate of three crore.
Devotees started arriving at the bathing ‘ghats’ along the banks of the Ganga since last night itself as the special celestial configuration which makes Mauni Amavasya auspicious has been in place since yesterday afternoon.
The 12-yearly Maha Kumbh congregations are known to reach their climax, in terms of turnouts, on Mauni Amavasya and the administration has made arrangements expecting nearly three crore visitors this year.
Tight security arrangements are in place with more than 15,000 security personnel drawn from central paramilitary forces like ITBP, CRPF, BSF and RAF besides the Uttar Police and its Provincial Armed Constabulary and Anti Terrorist Squad keeping a close vigil.
The star attraction of the day remains ‘Shahi Snan’ of the ‘Akharas’ – orders of martial ascetics established by Adi Sankara – which proceeded, in turns, towards the holy river’s confluence with Yamuna and Saraswati in majestic processions.
The Maha Kumbh witnesses altogether three ‘Shahi Snans’, the first of which took place on Makar Sankranti (January 14) and the third and last is scheduled on Basant Panchmi (February 15).
There are altogether 13 ‘Akharas’ belonging to various sects and each of them have been allotted specific time, ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, depending upon the size of their procession.
While the elderly went through the rituals observing a vow of silence (the word Mauni is derived from maun which means silence), others watched the sight of swords and spears wielding ‘Naga’ ascetics moving about with ash smeared on their bodies.
While the ‘Naga sadhus’ are reaching the venue from their respective camps on foot, their leaders known by honorifics like ‘Shri Mahant’ and ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ cover the distance perched atop richly-decorated chariots with musical bands playing devotional tunes.
Make-shift roads have been laid down with the help of metallic chequered plates with barricading on both sides to ensure that the ‘Shahi Snan’ processions go on without any inconvenience. – Indian Express, 10 February 2013
Filed under: india | Tagged: afzal guru, allahabad, ashrams, capital punishment, civic administration, festivals, hindu, hinduism, india, islam, islam in india, jihad, kumbha mela, kumbha mela 2013, muslim terrorists, naga sadhus, politics, prayag, religion, sadhus, sannyasi, security, temples, terrorism, triveni sangam, UP state administration |
BHARATA BHARATI 
Sex scandal ‘swamy’ Nithyananda named ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ – NitiCentral – February 14, 2013
Sex scandal ‘swamy’ Nithyananda named ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ Nithyananda, who was in the centre of a sex scandal, has inexplicably been conferred the honorific title of ‘Mahamandaleshwar’.
The Mahanirvani Akhara of ‘naga’ sadhus has conferred this title on controversial self-styled godman Nithyananda.
“Swami Nithyananda is a prominent seer who has been taking part in all the Kumbh congregations. He was conferred with the title of Mahamandaleshwar at a ceremony held at our camp in the ongoing Kumbh Mela Wednesday night,” Sachiv (secretary) of Mahanirvani Akhara Mahant Ravindra Puri told newspersons on Thursday.
The move was aimed at dispelling the notion that seers from the south were not given due representation in akharas, he said.
Asked about the controversies surrounding Nithyananda, Puri said “Akharas believe in giving people an opportunity for redemption. Moreover, the allegations against him are his personal matter and have nothing to do with the Mahanirvani Akhara.”
Swami Narendra Giri of the Niranjani Akhara said the title of ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ is conferred in the presence of representatives of all the 13 akharas. “In this case, the formality was not observed and hence conferring of the title cannot be said to have been in order,” he said. He, however, evaded a direct reply when asked about the propriety of conferring the title on the controversial godman.
Meanwhile, the self-styled godman who had been staying in the Kumbh Mela for the past fortnight, has left for Varanasi, sources in the Mahanirvani Akhara said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Godman Nithyananda ignites controversy in Kumbh Mela – Nairita – One India – 13 February 2013
Allahabad, Feb 13: Self-styled godman Nithyananda landed in a fresh controversy while his visit at Maha Kumbh in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Nithyananda, who earlier was sacked as the successor of the mutt head of Madurai Aadheenam, a 1500-year-old Saivite mutt, has been made the head of akhara (camp) of sadhus.
Nithyananda’s promotion as the head of the akhara enraged many who began protesting against the godman demanding his removal from the post. The protesters claimed that Nithyananda can not be awarded the post as he is an accused of many legal cases including one where he along with a popular South Indian actress allegedly was involved in a sex scandal.
Earlier pilgrims had opposed Nithyananda’s visit to Allahabad where the Maha Kumbh has been held. A section of pilgrims had met district administration and sought to put restrictions on Nithyananda.
They were enraged by the fact that a person like Nithyananda could be coming to the holy place considering charges against him. The pilgrims had also expressed their anger about the activities in the Nithyananda pandal.
The self-styled godman hogged limelight worldwide for the first time when a video allegedly featuring him along with a South Indian actress in a compromising position went viral on the internet and TV. Soon several rape charges and forgery cases were slapped against him.
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Allahabad stampede: Many injured and over 20 feared dead – First Post – FP Staff – Feb 10, 2013
According to TV reports a stampede at the Allahabad railway station triggered by the collapse of a railing of an overbridge has led to many people getting injured and deaths.
Lakhs of people were on their way back from Allahabad after the Maha Kumbh Mela. NDTV reports that there is only one doctor at the station and that relatives are complaining that authorities reacted to the situation only two hours after the collapse.
The police are yet to confirm that extent of damage, or release more numbers on those injured or dead.
Many are feared injured and dead in the stampede that broke out in Allahabad station today. CNN IBN
District officials said that a cane charge-prompted stampede preceded the incident at 7.15 p.m. on platform number 6 of the railway station in the city which hosted over three crore devotees at the Kumbh Mela during the day.
CNN IBN now reports that 20 are feared dead and that following the stampede, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a committee which will probe the incident. “We will investigate whether guidelines for managing the crowd was followed on the big day of Mauni Amavasya Snaan,” said the state government in a statement. It also added that clear directions were given to local authorities that they should ensure that large number of people do not gather at one place. According to the initial reports, over two lakh people were present at the railway station when the stampede took place.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yq2GCr0tNI
Finally! Nithy goes to the Kumbha Mela for a Ganga bath to wash away his sins! We wonder if his ‘disciple’ Rajiv Malhotra joined him for the cleansing? And what about the ‘golden’ Aadheenam of Madurai? Did he join the gay party too?
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Sonia Gandhi’s Mahakumbh visit cancelled due to ‘want of cooperation’ by UP govt – PTI – Feb 10, 2013
ALLAHABAD: The proposed visit of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the ongoing Mahakumbh has been cancelled due to “want of cooperation” of the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh in making security arrangements, the party’s state unit alleged today.
“We felt upset upon receiving information last night that the state government has expressed its inability to provide the necessary security arrangements for Sonia ji’s proposed visit,” UPCC spokesman Kishore Varshney told PTI.
“We never expected such treatment from the SP government in the state, which had received generous assistance from the Centre for organizing the congregation,” Varshney said.
He said, “The party president had been planning her visit for the past one week. She kept waiting for the state government’s response but the latter apparently had other thoughts”.
The UPCC spokesman alleged that, “The state government has a guilty conscience as it has failed to properly utilize the funds given for Mahakumbh and has been squandering the money on its own publicity”.
“This is not the first time when a non-Congress government in UP has tried to hinder Gandhi’s visit to Kumbh,”he claimed.
He said the Congress president had visited the 2001 Mahakumbh and taken a holy dip “despite the then BJP government having tried its level best to prevent her from doing so”.
“However, this time, in view of the heightened security concerns prevailing in the country, she has chosen to cancel her visit for want of cooperation from the local administration,” Varshney said.
He, however, added “the final word is not yet out on the possibility of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit, though given the attitude of the state government, we are not very hopeful”.
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As the Centre has waited 10 years to execute Afzal Guru, it could have waited till the end of February to do the job and not create a huge security problem at the Kumbha Mela in Prayag.
By the end of February all Hindu festivals will be over for the season and the risk of a Muslim backlash on pilgrims will be non-existent.
But the UPA government was so eager to stop Narendra Modi from visiting the Kumbh, it took the risk of executing Afzal Guru one day before the important Mauni Amavasya bath which he was scheduled to attend at Prayag.
Is the Government made up of idiots or are they just very cynical politicians?
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