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The Mahakumbh 2025 began this year at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers - Sangam - in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The sacred festival is taking place in Prayagraj after 144 years. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the Mahakumbh will be held from January 13 to February 26. The spiritual event has got global eyes too, with many prominent celebrities making their way to India to take a dip in holy waters.
Mahakumbh is one of the largest and most significant religious congregations in the world, held every 12 years at one of four locations in India - Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), Haridwar, Nashik, and Ujjain respectively.
According to reports, celebrities including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Anup Jalota, Renuka Shahane, Ashutosh Rana, Ravi Kishan, Manoj Tiwari, Akshara Singh, and Rakhi Sawant, among others might be present at the divine Mahakumbh.
On the first day, 16 January, singer Shankar Mahadevan is expected to perform and on February 24, Mohit Chauhan will close the event.
Anup Jalota, Kailash Kher, Shaan Mukherjee, Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Kavita Seth, and Maithili Thakur among others are expected to perform at the Ganga Pandal in Mahakumbh Mela. Folk artist and singer Malini Awasthi will add her own charm to the congregational spiritual event.
According to reports, Classical artists such as Dr L Subramaniam, Bickram Ghosh, and Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, alongside some of the celebrated dancers such as Shovana Narayan are also likely to perform.
Hollywood stars such as Richard Gere, David Lynch, Michael Douglas and his actress-wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tibetian leader Dalai Lama among others have also attended past Mahakumbh Mela.
American billionaire businesswoman executive, pand hilanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, Apple founder Steve Jobs' wife, reached the ashram of her guru, Swami Kailashnand Giri, the Acharya Mahamandleshwar of Niranjini Akhara, in Prayagraj on Saturday. She will be staying at the camp till Jan 15 before heading back to the US to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of UP President-elect Donald Trump, reportedly.
According to Outlook, Powell is being accompanied by her 40-member team.
Reportedly, several devotees from Japan, Russia, South Korea, Europe and other nations will also be in India to experience the 45-day festival.
The Ministry of Tourism said it is setting up the Incredible India Pavilion, a sprawling 5000 sq ft space at Mahakumbh, which will facilitate foreign tourists, scholars, researchers, photographers, journalists, the expat community, Indian diaspora, as per ANI report. The pavilion will also feature the Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice Poll, allowing visitors to vote for their favourite tourism destinations in India.
To cater to the specific needs of foreign tourists, influencers, journalists, and photographers attending Maha Kumbh, the Ministry of Tourism has set up a dedicated toll-free Tourist Infoline (1800111363 or 1363).
Besides English and Hindi the Toll-Free Infoline is now operating in ten (10) International languages and also in Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Marathi.
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