MahaKumbh Nagar: As the final Amrit Snan concludes, the vast landscape of the Kumbh Mela begins to transform. The once-bustling congregation of saints, seers, and pilgrims is slowly dissolving into silence. The rhythmic beats of damrus and the lingering scent of incense serve as the last echoes of a grand spiritual gathering that has drawn millions over the past weeks.

The makeshift tents, which had been centres of devotion and discourse, are now being dismantled as saints prepare for their onward journeys. Before the akhadus begin their departures, an age-old tradition plays out—one final communal meal, a simple vet deeply symbolic feast of Kadhi-Pakoda.

It is a moment of camaraderie, where renunciates who have spent weeks in austerity come together, seated in long rows. sharing both food and laughter. "We eat not just for sustenance butasa ritual of togetherness before we disperse,” says Swami Anant Giri, a sadhu from Juna Akhada. "This is our way of expressing gratitude for the time spent in spiritual pursuic” The first to depart are the Shaiva Akhadas, followers of Lord Shiva.

Clad in saffron robes, their bodies smeared with sacred ash, they gather their few belongings—kamandals, trishuls, and rudraksha malas—before bowing in reverence to their Dharma Dhwaja, the spiritual flag that remains hoisted until Mabhashivratri.

"The Kumbh is a confluence of not just rivers but of souls,” says Mahant Avadheshanand Giri of Juna Akhada. "We come together like the waves of the Ganga, only to disperse again, carrying its sacred essence with us." Following them, the Ani and Udasin Akhadas begin their departures, their once-crowded tents standing empty, the footprints of devotees slowly erased by the shifting sands of the Sangam.

For many saints, this farewell is bittersweet. "We wait for this moment for years, and when it arrives, it passes in the blink of an eye," reflects Swami Shivanand Saraswati, as he carefully folds his ochre robe before leaving. "But we are wanderers. Our path is never static; it flows with time, like the Ganga itself."