ALLAHABAD: The Kumbh Mela this year became the inspiration for around 40 media personnel, including writers, bloggers, photographers and journalists from across the world, who visited Varanasi to participate in the Uttar Pradesh Kumbh Travel Writers’ Conclave.The six-day event took participants to Varanasi and Lucknow, and will conclude in Ayodhya on Tuesday. It has been organized by Lonely Planet India with support from the UP government, UP tourism and the district administration of Allahabad.On Sunday, the first day of the team’s visit to the Kumbh, two panel discussions brought into focus the experience of being in a holy city like Allahabad during the festival, one of the largest gatherings of people anywhere in the world.While it was formally launched on January 31, the event in Allahabad was inaugurated by commissioner Ashish Goel, who was the chief guest, Deepak Lamba, CEO of Worldwide Media; Sunil Wuthoo, Business Director at Worldwide Media, and Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President of Parmarth Niketan Ashram.Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Goel encouraged writers to bring their own unique perspectives to the story of the Kumbh. He said: “The scale and diversity of the Kumbh makes for a good story and traction for tourists and pilgrims all over the world.”Swami Chidanand Saraswati said that the conclave was a great initiative to bring writers together at the Kumbh as they would bring out the truth about the inclusivity of the festival. “Through this inclusiveness, the world will understand what India stands for and what is the spirit of India. The Kumbh can showcase the spirit of India and through this travel conclave you can touch the world,” he said.Rukmini Krishna Prabhu spoke about the organization of the Kumbh, saying that people usually expect to see a crowded and unclean mela but were instead confronted with spirituality. “Through this conclave, we can project Kumbh in the right way. It is every individual’s responsibility, including the media, to promote a positive mindset about the festival,” he said.The topic for the first panel discussion was ‘Uttar Pradesh as the seat of ancient and modern spirituality’. Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Professor Dubey, Professor Rana Singh Senior and Rukmini Krishna Prabhu were the speakers in this panel. The second discussion was on ‘Learnings from the organisation of the Kumbh — a roadmap for putting together large-scale events’ and was addressed by Goel, Prof Pravin Rana, Sadhvi Bhagwati and Navina Jafa.

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