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NASHIK, INDIA, June 24, 2003: Nashik and Trimbakeshwar are currently in the midst of intense activity as they prepare for the thousands of pilgrims anticipated for the Sinhashtha Kumbha Mela or the Festival of the Nectar of Immortality. Over 2,500 people are working in three shifts to erect 35,000 sheds on 840 plots, each 4,000 sq. ft in area, at Tapovan on the banks of the Godavari. Elsewhere, a 100-bed hospital, computerized railway and bus reservation counters, two hi-tech communication centers and ration and utility shops are taking shape, while US$2,361,528.55 is being spent on half-a-dozen bathing ghats at the confluence of Ahilya-Godavari and Gangasagar reservoir in Trimbakeshwar.



Sadhus have already begun to arrive on horses, elephants and camels, while palanquins and chariots are being embellished with silver, gold and woodwork. The Maharashtran Government is expecting over 300,500 sadhus and 750,000 devotees between July and August. In 1992 220,000 devotees thronged the Godavari on the main parvani (auspicious day) alone. This year more than 400,000 are expected. “It is tough to manage the crowd in the monsoon, but not impossible,” says Mahesh Zagade, district collector, Nashik, who is coordinating the seven special committees set up for the event.

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