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Bhakt Narasimha Swami, a spiritual devotee from Johannesburg, South Africa, arrived in Prayagraj to participate in the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025.
While speaking with ANI, Bhakt Narasimha Swami said that although he had heard about the Kumbh Mela for years, he never had the chance to attend. "I have come here to attend Kumbh Mela. I heard about it many years ago, but I was unable to come here. Kumbh Mela is a festival where a lot of saints and sadhus come together to get the nectar that's dropped here. I was a young man, but I had a lot of questions. One of the questions was, why do bad things happen to good people like myself," he told ANI. Narasimha Swami further said that through his exploration of Sanatana Dharma, he discovered the concepts of karma, reincarnation, and samsara (the cycle of life, death, and rebirth). He said, "When I came to Sanatana Dharma, I got to know about karma and reincarnation, and how life is a continuous journey and then as we come to this life, we bring our past karma to finish off in this life. So we are in a cycle, samsara. So then, as I was studying, I wanted to know how to come out of this samsara." Notably, Narasimha Swami was born in 1959. He is the first South African Sannyasi of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He Joined ISKCON in 1986. According to ISKCON, he served as a book distributor in the early 90's in Birmingham, UK. He also served in South African Temples including Durban and Cape Town in the mid 90's and was in East Africa, Kenya and Uganda from the late 1990's till 2003. He became a sannyasa candidate in 2005 and was initiated into the sannyasa ashrama in 2008. According to the data released, by 6 pm on Thursday, over three million people visited the Maha Kumbh and took a holy dip at the Sangam, with more than one million Kalpvasis and two million additional pilgrims. Maha Kumbh, which began on January 13, will continue until February 26. The next key bathing dates include January 29 (Mauni Amavasya - Second Shahi Snan), February 3 (Basant Panchami - Third Shahi Snan), February 12 (Maghi Purnima), and February 26 (Maha Shivaratri). (ANI)
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