Kumbh Mela 2019 Theme Song to Feature Amitabh Bachchan, Kailash Kher? UP Government’s Grand Plans for Allahabad (Prayag) Ardh Kumbh

India is a land of fairs and festivals and one of the biggest fairs in the world, Kumbh Mela will be taking place next year. The 2019 Allahabad Ardh Kumbh Mela ("Half Kumbh") is scheduled to be held at Triveni Sangam in Uttar Pradesh, India from January 14 to March 4 the coming year. Kumbh Mela is the largest religious mass gathering on the planet in which Hindus come together to take holy dip in a sacred river. Kumbh Mela holds a special religious, social and cultural significance for devotees who throng the Mela sites by the lakhs.

Uttar Pradesh government under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has a vision of ‘Divya Kumbh, Bhavya Kumbh’ (Divine and Grand Kumbh) for which the state is planning well in advance. In fact, Kumbh Mela 2019 theme song is planned by the UP government to throw light upon the significance of the festivities. This video of Allahabad Ardh Kumbh Mela song is likely to feature Bollywood superstar actor Amitabh Bachchan along with Sufi and folk singer Kailash Kher, singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan.

Deputy director of tourism, Dinesh Kumar said that for the first time a theme song for Kumbh Mela will be recorded. While the talks are going on about the big collaboration of star singers and actors, the state government is confident of releasing it in August 2018. The song will initially be sung in Hindi and Sanskrit and later be translated in more languages. The idea behind having an exclusive theme song for Kumbh Mela featuring notable celebrities is to reach out to a larger section of audiences and spread the information about the mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith, which is inscribed on the UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Kumbh Mela is one of the largest human congregations on the Earth. The widely popular fairs are held at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela, the Allahabad Kumbh Mela, the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha, and Ujjain Simhastha. At any given place, the Kumbh Mela takes place every 12, i.e. held alternately between Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain every three years. However, there are Ardh Kumbh Mela ("Half Kumbh"), which is held in Allahabad and Haridwar at a gap of six years. The 2019 Allahabad Ardh Kumbh Mela as mentioned above will be held at Triveni Sangam, which is the meeting place of three holy rivers - the Saraswati, Yamuna, and Ganga.

Allahabad had hosted its previous Kumbh Mela event in 2013, and the Yogi Adityanath wants to have everything at a large scale, six years down the line. The 49-day festival, which will be held at January 14 to March 4 has already witnessed a budget allocation of Rs 2000 crore. In order to accommodate lakhs of devotees and avoid any unceremonious happenings, the government has also allotted 2500 hectares, an increase of 25 percent in the area from the last time while the number of sectors of the Mela area has been increased to 20 from 14.

Special bathing dates for Allahabad Kumbh Mela 2019 is finalised. They are: Makar Sankranti (January 14-15) will be the first Shahi Snan to begin Kumbh, followed by Paush Purnima (January 21), Paush Ekadashi (January 31), Mauni Amavasya is the second Shahi Snan also the Main Royal Bath (February 4), Basant Panchmi will be the third Shahi Snan (February 10), Maghi Ekadashi (February 16), Maghi Purnima (February 19) and Maha Shivratri on March 4 bringing the 2019 Allahabad Ardh Kumbh Mela to a close.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2018 02:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).