PRAYAGRAJ: The craze for reels has changed the social media game and the way devotees take a holy dip at Sangam. As chants of “Jai Shri Ram”, “Har Har Mahadev,” and “Jai Ganga Maiyya” reverberated through the air on the first significant snan of Paush Purnima Monday, a troupe of reel makers and YouTubers were busy capturing every moment of the Maha Kumbh.
While some women from Petlad, Gujarat sang the “Ambe Maa” aarti, a team of YouTubers from Jhansi was busy capturing and uploading shots on their smartphones to their channels.
“This is not just Maha Kumbh of faith and spirituality, but also Maha Kumbh of technology. Social media has changed since COVID-19 with a surge in video formats of live-streaming, YouTube shorts, and reels. This Maha Kumbh, occurring after 144 years, is a golden opportunity for us to shore up our followers,” said Mohit Chauhan, a 22-year-old Instagrammer from Delhi.
Users started sharing posts with “#EktaKaMahaKumbh” on X and Instagram in the morning. By afternoon, the hashtag had topped trending charts, showcasing widespread participation andthe collective spirit of unity symbolised by this historic gathering. Thousands of users shared photos, videos, and information about the event, sparking widespread engagement. Several hashtags on Maha Kumbh were used in the posts, but “#EktaKaMahaKumbh” stood out as the most prominent.
With Kumbh catching the world’s fancy, teams of YouTubers from Japan, South America & South Africa ensured no single shot missed their cameras.
Billed as the “digital Maha Kumbh,” the first major snag was that emotional devotees and tourists shared their experiences by posting videos and photos on their social media accounts and offering live darshan of Triveni Sangam and Lete Hanumanji to their parents and relatives via video call.
At the banks of Sangam, crowds were seen capturing selfies with standees of PM Modi and UP CM Yogi. At Nandi Dwar, many women and young people assembled to photograph themselves, showing their enthusiasm for Modi and Yogi.
Meanwhile, amid loud announcements to walk in lines, droves of the faithful were headed to different ghats since midnight on Sunday, not waiting for sunrise to provide some relief from the intense cold.Some elderly devotees were also seen performing the sacred ritual of “dandavat parikrama” by lying prostrate on the cold, sandy surface, placing a marker at their fingertips, rising, and walking to that point. This methodical process continued as they made their way towards the ghat, with each devotee repeating these precise movements throughout their spiritual journey.
