Many consider Maghi Purnima to be the last day of the Kumbh Mela. The Ganga perhaps agrees because She has decided to give us the shallowest day of this Kumbh. There are more people and more shrines on all of the sandbanks than ever before. For this throng, Maghi Purnima is over and it is time for the long march home. This is a good place to hang out because the mela authorities permit cooking fires in this area.
Thousands choose to have their heads shaved, it is a sign that they have been on a pilgrimage.
This picture was taken in an area reserved for this purpose. There are probably more barbers here per square foot than anywhere else on Earth, and piles of hair everywhere. A tired pilgrim is being helped on her way home after her snan today. I have seen hundreds of very old women and men with severe spinal bends of ninety degrees or worse walking long distances to get here. Composite picture of the Sangam and the Treveni at 12.30pm.