The four shanka-racharyas, on Monday, boycotted the first bathing date of the Maha Kumbh in protest against the refusal of the Mela officials to give them a common “Chatushpath” — land where the four shankaracharyas would remain in close proximity with each other.
The mela authorities have given the shankaracharyas four different areas for Chatushpath.
The shankaracharya of Dwarika Peeth, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, said that the primary reason for asking for camp space within a specified zone was to facilitate easy communication between the four shankaracharyas to deliberate over issues related to the nation and religion. This would also enable the devout to meet all four shankaracharyas at one stop and establishment of Chatushpath would be possible this way. Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Maharaj said that people were not coming to the Kumbh due to the pollution in the rivers and now the administration has decided against giving them a common place.
He said that when they have not got the land, then there is no point in attending the Maha Kumbh, which takes place once in 12 years and this year it is considered to be very auspicious due to a planetary alignment that takes once every 147 years.
Efforts were on to resolve the crisis though Mela officials admitted that it was too late in the day to make changes in the camps.
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30% WORKERS AT MELA SUFFER CHILBLAINS
age correspondent
Lucknow, Jan. 14
More than 30 per cent of the workforce at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad is suffesring from chilblains — a tissue injury that occurs when an individual is exposed to extreme cold.
This causes painful redness of skin and take three to four weeks to subside on its own. According to Major (Dr) B.P. Singh, joint director and in-charge of medical services, the medical facility at the Mela ground has been flooded with complaints of chilblains on face, hands and feet of employees working round the clock. “The recent fall in temperature led to chilblains in over 3,000 personnel posted on Kumbh duty.”