Allahabad, Jan 05: Confronting the winter chill, thousands of Hindu devotees Monday took the holy dip at the Sangam (the confluence of the 3 rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati) on the primary day of the 44-day long Maagh Mela.

The crowd count is predicted to succeed in over twenty five lakh pilgrims over the course of the day.

District officers aforesaid elaborate arrangements are created for the event and twelve ghats (a flight of steps leading right down to a river) are erected to confirm that the pilgrims don’t encounter any issues whereas they take their holy dip.

Hundreds of Kalpavasi’s (loners) would be residing at special camps and tents created for them on the sprawling 1,550 bighas of land on the banks of the Sangam.

Over 70,000 camps are created, an officer told whereas adding that twelve power sub-stations would ensure 24×7 power provide to the mela area.

85 km of checked plates are arranged  to level the uneven parts at the banks and the temporary pontoon bridges for the convenience of the devotees.

The Shahi Snan’s (royal baths) can occur Monday (Jan 5), Makar Sankranti (Jan14), Mauni Amavasya (Jan 20), Basant Panchami (Jan 24), Maagh Poornima (Feb 3) and the final bathing (Feb 17) on the occassion of Maha Shivratri.

More than 3,000 policemen including traffic personnel, mounted police and different security agencies are keeping a vigil within the mela space.