Allahabad : The biggest show on earth, the most profound spectacle of faith has begun. Maha Kumbh 2013, the largest congregation of people on the planet for a single cause, began at Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad city on Monday.

Maha Kumbh 2013, being held after 12 years, will go on for next two months and will conclude on Maha Shivaratri on March 10. This time, the Kumbh is longer by 11 days, and people will congregate at the site for 55 days.

Over 10 crore (100 million) believers will converge in the city of Allahabad (Prayag) situated at the holy confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati.

The Sangam, as the confluence of the rivers is called will see a mesmerizing coming together of dreams, aspirations and wishes of a millions of believers, all wanting to partake a drop of the holy nectar (Amrit) that will cleanse all sins and help them attain Moksha.

The most important part of the festival is the ritual bath (snan) in the sacred water amidst chanting of vedic hymns and mantras to liberate one from all suffering and miseries of life.

Important snan dates: Makar Sankranti – January 14, Paush Poornima – January 27, Mauni Amavasya –February 10, Basant Panchami – February 15, Maghi Poornima – February 25, Mahashivratri – 10 March.

As many as 1.1 crore people are expected to be at the Kumbh Mela today.

The administration has put in place elaborate security arrangements to thwart any kind of terrorist activity, prevent stampedes or any other type of law and order challenge.

There are several projects crucial to the success of the event, hyped by the ten-month-old Akhilesh Yadav government as an occasion to showcase Uttar Pradesh to a global audience.

Officials admit that this time, the event is not just for those teeming millions who visit the Kumbh between January 14 and March 10.

The area of the ‘mela’ premises has been increased manifold this year; it now encompasses 193.5 hectares.

The Kumbh area would function as an independent district area and 12,000 police constables, 107 traffic inspectors, 12 additional Superintendents of Police (SPs), 16 assistant SPs and 50 deputy SPs will lead the security network. There will also be central police forces watching every inch of the Kumbh area.

Provision of proper health and hygiene facilities has also been something that the state government has been preparing for.

There are 14 allopathic medical centres, a 370-bed hospital, 35,000 toilets for special cottages, 340 ten-seater Sulabh toilets and 1,000 non-conventional toilets in the Kumbh area; there are 7,500 toilets that conform to the design developed by the Planning and Research Action Institute, Lucknow.

The UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has built five temporary bus stations, and will ply 6008 additional buses, augmenting the fleet of 892 buses that ply to the Kumbh area in the normal course.

The government expects approximately 90,000 passengers to ply to and from the Kumbh each day of the 55-day event.

Indian Railways will operate 750 special trains to ferry devotees.