Kumbh Mela ban selfies

 

After a human behavior study conducted by volunteers of an online collaboration group, local administration officials of Trimbakeshwar, Nashik in the Indian state of Maharashtra where the 2 month long ‘Kumbh Mela’ festival is being celebrated, have decided to enforce ‘No selfie zones’ in select spots and on specific dates.

The authorities have taken this measure, primarily to avoid stampedes which might cause huge casualties, given the number of people expected to attend the celebrations which runs in to millions. Kumbh Mela is a Hindu festival that is held once in every 3 years across four sacred locations in the northern and central parts of India, by rotation. On this particular occasion, the festival is being celebrated in Trimbakeshwar from mid July till late September. Typically these festivals are considered to be some of the largest peaceful gathering of humanity in the world and are attended by millions and millions of Indians from across the country as well as from around the globe. It is attended by both householders, who expect to wash away their sins or past karma by taking a dip in the holy rivers as well as renunciants or sadhus – and a specific kind famous across the world for their naked & ash smeared bodies – who want to lose themselves in spiritual ecstasy on this very important Hindu occasion, one that is important both in terms of geographical location as well as planetary alignment. And these events unleash a unique visual revelry which can also be a bit overwhelming for the senses, for photojournalists from across the globe. These festivities also present a massive logistical challenge aka nightmare to authorities who have to take care of the food, lodging and sanitary arrangements for the millions of people attending the event, not to mention the traffic problems which would quite definitely bring the normal functioning of Nashik city to an absolute standstill.  On earlier occasions during the past years, stampedes and other problems like disease outbreaks have resulted in huge death tolls and the concerned authorities had drawn considerable flak for their mismanagement from the media and government agencies from across the country. It is therefore only logical that every possible scenario and emergency situation is being considered by the authorities to avoid a major humanitarian disaster.

According to the findings of the behavior study, people while moving in huge crowds stop to take selfies and also tend to climb to dangerous spots to take selfies which may result in the crowds going haywire. Authorities have stated that the ‘No selfie zones’ will be strictly implemented especially on important dates of the event, such as the ‘Shahi Snan’ or Royal bath.

Vijay ram