Mahashivratri, the last bathing festival of Magh Mela, the biggest annual gathering of faith held on the banks of Sangam in Prayagraj, concluded successfully on Friday.

On Mahashivratri, lakhs of devotees took a holy dip. The Yogi government made many innovations to give a divine, grand, and new look to the Magh Mela this year.

According to Magh Mela officer Dayanand Prasad, the flow of devotees continued to arrive at Sangam since morning on Mahashivratri. More than 10 lakh devotees took a holy dip in Triveni on Friday. Prasad said that over 3.27 crore devotees have taken a dip of faith in the 6 major bathing festivals of this Magh Mela which lasted for 54 days.

This year, the Magh Mela was organised by the Yogi government keeping in mind the arrangements for the upcoming Maha Kumbh. That is why this Magh Mela also became a laboratory of innovation for the Maha Kumbh.

Prasad said that many new innovations were made in this year’s Magh Mela. For the first time in Magh Mela, more than 165 LED solar hybrid street lights were installed for continuous lighting and saving electricity. Keeping in view the cleanliness and convenience of the devotees, 21,000 toilets have been built in the fair area.

Around 10 water ATMs were installed in the Magh Mela area to provide pure drinking water to devotees and tourists. Thematic and spiral lights were used on the major routes of the fair area.

Apart from this, delineator lights have been used for the first time in the pontoon bridge of the fair area. It was used in two pontoon bridges in the fair area. For the first time, the irrigation department used geo bags to prevent erosion caused by the flow of river water in the fair area.

Artificial Intelligence was also used effectively for the first time to control lakhs of devotees and tourists coming to Magh Mela.

Innovative experiments were also made by the tourism department for the tourists and devotees coming to Magh Mela. The first floating restaurant of Uttar Pradesh was also started in the boat club in the waves of the Yamuna River during this Magh Mela. UP CM Yogi Adityanath himself inaugurated it.

Along with starting the floating restaurant, a mini cruise boating service has also been started in the Yamuna river. Prayagraj’s regional tourism officer Aparajita Singh said that a mini cruise boating service has been started in the Yamuna River from Triveni Club to Sujavan Dev Temple. For this, two mini cruises were prepared at a cost of Rs 240 lakh which provide water tourism facilities in the Yamuna River to tourists. NRIs got a chance to take a heritage walk in Magh Mela.

According to Nilesh Narayan, director of tour company Holy Waters India Journeys, this time, the 50-member NRI and foreign tourists who came to Magh Mela were taken on a heritage walk of the religious and historical places of the city after the Sangam bath. This also includes visiting religious ashrams and akharas. These innovations can be useful for the upcoming Maha Kumbh next year.