Simhastha Kumbh: Amit Shah, Fadnavis attend final event of year-long mela

The Kumbh flag was brought down to mark the end of the year-long Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Nashik in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.

Fadnavis and Shah received a warm welcome at Juna Akhada at Trimbakeshwar in the district on Thursday night.

They paid obeisance at Trimbakeshwar Mandir. The dhwajavtaran (flag lowering ceremony), held to mark the completion of Simhanstha Mahaparva, was performed in their presence.

Union Minister Niranjan Jyoti, Maharashtra ministers Pankaja Munde and Girish Mahajan, MPs and MLAs and others were also present.

Fadnavis and Shah felicitated the officials who worked hard to make the Simhastha Mahaparva a grand success, a CMO official said.

In Nashik city, state Animal Husbandry Minister Mahadev Jankar, Mayor Ashok Murtadak, Collector Radhakrishanan B and others participated in the ceremony to bring down the Kumbh flag at the sacred 'Ramkunda'.

A maha aarti was performed on the occasion.

The ancient Ganga-Godavari-temple on the bank of river Godavari was later closed till next Kumbh mela to be held in 2027-28.

The Kumbh mela had begun in Trimbakeshwar and Nashik on July 14 last year with a flag-hoisting ceremony in the presence of Fadanvis, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and sadhus and seers of various akhadas.

During the Kumbh, lakhs of devotees from different parts of the country witnessed the three parvanis (special occasion) and took holy dip in Godavari river on the ghats in Nashik city and the holy town of Trimbakeshwar. 

IMAGE: Sadhus take a dip in the Godavari river during the first "Shahi Snan" (grand bath) at the Kumbh Mela in Nashik. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters