Chants of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ fill air as sadhus march for holy dip

And when the procession started at 6 am, awestruck visitors could not turn their eyes away, because it surely was a sight hard to forget: sadhus and their disciples at their colourful best, dancing away to glory to the tune of brass bands and bhajans.

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The procession was led by the Nirvani Akhara, which has 125 khalsas, headed by the same number of mahamandaleshwars (heads of khalsas); followed by the Digambar Akhara with 400 khalsas and finally the Nirmohi Akhara with 64 khalsas.

All of them in decorated vans, cars, trucks, horse-driven chariots, and a very few even walked.

While thousands of onlookers had lined up along the narrow alley leading up to Ramkund at Panchvati, others were smart enough to run atop houses along the road to get a clear view of all of the holy men doing what they do best.

The crowd was such that the police and the Rapid Action Force personnel had to barricade the roads to control them.

As soon as the procession reached Panchvati, most of the sadhus ran down the steps of the main bathing ghat and plunged into the river.

Some shouted slogans and waved their swords and flags at the onlookers, and others enjoyed their swim from one side of the ghat to the other.

The administration, in a bid to prevent any mishap during the royal bath, had turned the city into a fortress and tried their best to control the excited crowd at all entry points.

From late Friday night, the sadhugrams were buzzing with activity. The sadhus had smeared their foreheads with ashes, applied tilaks and were offering prayers to the God before breaking into dance all night long.

The last Kumbh Mela in Nashik was held in 2003 and had witnessed a stampede, in which 33 people were killed during a royal procession.