Hours before sunrise, lakhs of devotees had already taken dip in Sangam on Basant Panchami the third and final shahi snaan during the Kumbh. Many were seen carrying the holy water of the Ganges, a sense of satisfaction reflected on their faces.
Even before 2 am, a number of devotees were seen taking the exit route from the Mela area, and searching for a mode of transport to reach their respective destinations.
It was 1.45 am, and Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Banda, was heading home.
"The main reason to take the (holy) dip early was that I will get ample amount of time to reach home. The crowd was relatively less and hence there were no problems," he said.
Deepak Kumar, who runs a caf and is a resident of Fatehpur district, said, "I took the dip at around 1.00 am. I now have time to explore the city. Apart from this, it also helps me in returning home in time."
Siddh Pratap Singh Baghel, who came from Katni in Madhya Pradesh along with his friends Pramod Chaurasia and Brijesh Kumar Pandey, said, "Initially, when we went to take dip, the rush was relatively less. However, as soon as we came out, the number of devotees started increasing."
Dharmendra Vishwakarma said, "People had started taking dip at around 12.30 am, and we were able to reach there in time. As we were leaving the ghat, we noticed the number of devotees reaching there increasing."
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