Kumbh: Tourism business gets spiritual touch

Looking for a traditional-yet-modern and comfortable stay and be part of the Kumbh Mela experience? Well, there are quite a few options available with around half-a-dozen service providers offering tourists and devotees cottages and dormitories.

They, of course, come with a price that could range from Rs 20,000 per person per night to Rs 500 per person per day right at the edge of the mela area. And helping these service providers in combining tradition with modern facilities are the spiritual gurus. Apart from being the guiding light, they also provide customer base to these enterprises.

Abhijeet Tripathi of Kumbh Cottages Camp, located at the edge of Sector-13 of the mela area towards Arail (Naini) says: "We have put such a camp here for the first time under the guidance of Baba Pagal Giri Masani, who lives in Varanasi. He has given us the guidelines to be

followed. Of course, there

would be no meat, no alcohol. Food is without onion and garlic. We get requests for booking through our website, but we do seek his guidance before saying yes to any client."

Apart from other things, the Kumbh Cottage Camp also offers a panoramic view of Sangam and the Allahabad Fort. "Also, taking the customers for bathing is not difficult for us, as we take them in boats right up to Sangam," said Tripathi, who has earlier worked with some big corporate names like Reliance and Mahindra Holiday Resorts.

"In keeping with tradition, jau (barley) saplings, which are traditionally planted during Navratri puja, have been planted by way of landscaping and cow dung is used to daub the entrances and the surroundings to our cottages. Our Baba's insists that tradition should not be disturbed in the name of modernity. We will be making arrangements for around 1,000 of his devotees around Mauni Amavasya on February 10," Tripathi said.

... contd.

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