The Simhasth is a Hindu religious mela which is held every 12 years in Ujjain, which is famous for its Mahakaal Temple.
An Eiffel Tower atop an akhara, a 121 feet trident on the Ghats of Kshipra River and an over 100 feet incense stick - this is how grand and colorful the month-long Simhasth Kumbh Mela celebrations will be like in the holy city of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Thousands of saints and seers from 13 akharas will be camping on the banks the Kshipra River for the next one month.
"The arrangements made by the state government are good. Initially there were problems in toilets, they are being resolved. Because of Hanuman Jayanti on April 22, there will be less turn out of saints and devotees but after that there will be overwhelming turnout at Simhasth," said Narendragiri, President, Akhara Parishad.
The Simhasth is a Hindu religious mela which is held every 12 years in Ujjain, which is famous for its Mahakaal Temple. The religious fair derives the name Simhasth from the fact that it is held when the Jupiter is in Leo (Simha in Hindu astrology).
The Madhya Pradesh government is expecting more than five crore visitors over the next month. And for this grand event, over 22,000 security personnel from state police and central forces have been deployed. The mela venue is monitored using hi-tech CCTV and even face recognition cameras as this area has been the bastion of banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
This month-long religious celebration has cost the state government a whopping Rs 3500 crores.
"We have spent the money in a planned manner to permanently make Ujjain - which a religious place - even better. We have made inner, outer roads, have constructed 11 bridges and also have done repair and maintenance of Ghats and temples," said Ujjain collector Kavindra Kiyavat.
Nine ghats on the eight kilometre stretch of the Kshipra River have been given a makeover to allow over one lakh people to take a holy dip at the same time and with the Narmada River linked to the Kshipra, administration claims they have enough water for holy dips and drinking.