Over the past one month, over 40 ministers of the Uttar Pradesh government have visited 28 states and Union territories in all to personally hand over invites for the Maha Kumbh 2024, to begin in Prayagraj from January 13, meeting chief ministers and governors, and even holding roadshows.
There is a special outreach to the Northeast, whose holy figures will be treated as ‘State Guest’ at the Kumbh, entitling them to special security protocol and accommodation. As per the Yogi Adityanath government, which earlier announced its intention to spread the word of the Kumbh to places hitherto untouched by it, it is the first time saints from the Northeast will participate in the ritual snans at a Maha Kumbh.
Having bounced back from the Lok Sabha election reversal with bypoll wins in November, Adityanath has been sharpening his government’s Hindutva narrative. The Maha Kumbh, the first under Adityanath and spread out over a month, provides him the grandest stage for this – numbers at the Ayodhya Temple consecration, for example, had to be kept limited for security reasons.
The UP government has accordingly been calling its invites across the length and breadth of the country an attempt to spread understanding of “Sanatan Culture”.
Held every 12 years, the last Maha Kumbh was held in Prayagraj in 2013 under the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party regime.
Some states have been visited by more than one UP minister, as part of the Maha Kumbh exercise. Recently, Ministers of State J P S Rathore and Om Prakash Rajbhar were in Sikkim to invite CM Prem Singh Tamang and Governor Om Prakash Mathur. They promised to attend.
Opposition governments have also got the invite, including Telangana, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Delhi. The states still to be covered are Rajasthan and Kerala, while a team is set to visit Manipur soon, said sources.
Adityanath himself handed over the invites to the President and Vice President of India and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Prayagraj on December 13 to lay the foundation stone for various projects.
Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya was assigned Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and Deputy CM Brijesh Pathak went to Maharashtra, accompanied by minister and NISHAD party chief Sanjay Nishad.
Pathak was also assigned Rajasthan, along with Minister of State, Independent charge, Asim Arun. Danish Azad Ansari, Minister for Minority Welfare, went to Jammu and Kashmir, while Baby Rani Maurya, who served as Governor of Uttarakhand, was assigned to Uttarakhand. J P S Rathore and Asim Arun went to Tamil Nadu.
A minister told The Indian Express that the invite is in the name of Adityanath, and includes a brass urn with Ganga water and a New Year calendar with pictures of the Kumbh and the Maha Kumbh 2025 logo.
As part of the Northeast outreach, the Maha Kumbh area will have an exhibition showcasing the culture of the region, including its dances.
“There is a wider message through this Maha Kumbh, and it is a call to all Sanatanis to unite, rising above differences,” a BJP leader said.
Sources said that the government hopes that most of the dignitaries visiting the Maha Kumbh would also visit the Ayodhya Temple. Meanwhile, at Ayodhya, the Ram Janma Bhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is preparing for celebrations to mark the first anniversary of the consecration of the temple, which will be led by Adityanath.
The trust has said that saints and dignitaries who could not be invited for the January 2024 consecration would be given special invites this time.
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