PRAYAGRAJ: Cousins Shivanshu Dubey and Rakesh Tiwari from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, are at the Sangam having done their Shahi Snan and feeling quite thrilled about it. “Shahi Shan has been happening at the Mahakumbh for a long. What makes it special this year is that it happens during a rare celestial alignment that occurs only once every 144 years. I certainly won’t be around for the next one,” says Tiwari with a smile. Dubey came out of the water with a “positive energy” surge. “It will carry me through as I prepare for the UPSC exams,” he says. He ensured going for an early morning dip, at the hour of the ‘manthan’ (churning of the ocean) that yielded ‘Amrit’.Whether for material or spiritual gains, or a combination of both, most who come for the Shahi Snan feel charged by the holy dip. Like the cousins from Ghazipur, residents of Prayagraj also do the dips during the annual Magh Mela. Heramb Chaturvedi, retired HOD of History at Allahabad University, says it is part of the “intersectional journey” between the Magh and the Kumbh.Rinku Kimari, an advocate from Prayagraj, says it is part of her “family’s culture”. Her mother and her grandmother before her would never miss taking the holy dip. It connects her to her family, family traditions, and the traditions of the city to which she belongs.
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