Nashik: President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday performed the dhwajarohan (flag-hoisting) ceremony at Ramkund in Nashik, formally marking the launch of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela on the banks of the Godavari, PTI reported.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld

With the hoisting of the sacred Dharma Dhwaja, Murmu became the first woman in history to hoist the Kumbh Mela flag, Nation Press reported, calling it a landmark moment for one of Hinduism's holiest pilgrimages. The ceremony was held at the auspicious muhurta of 12:02 pm.

Source: Nation Press

12:02 pmMuhurta at which the Dharma Dhwaja was raised at Ramkund
51 feetHeight of the main Panchadhatu flagpole at Ramkund
13Akhadas whose Mahants attended the ceremony
12 yearsCycle after which the Simhastha Kumbh returns to Nashik

Before the hoisting, rituals including the worship of the Dharma Dhwaja, Ganga Pujan and the consecration of the flagpole were performed in the President's presence. Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and the Mahants of the 13 Akhadas were among those present, Nation Press reported.

Source: Nation Press

Two towns, one moment

At the same 12:02 pm moment in Trimbakeshwar, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis raised the Dharmadhwaja at the Kushavarta tirth, and the sounding of the conch announced the start of the Mahakumbh at both pilgrimage towns, Report Wire reported.

Source: Report Wire

The ceremony is the development Awaaz Punjab flagged a day earlier, when Rashtrapati Bhavan announced the President's two-day Maharashtra-Haryana visit and the Nashik flag-hoisting programme. Read the earlier announcement

After the Nashik ceremony, the President was scheduled to travel to Trimbakeshwar to offer prayers and view the flagpoles at the Trimbakeshwar Temple and Kushavart Kund, and a grand Goda Aarti involving 6,500 tribal participants was planned in her presence at Ramkund in the evening. On November 1 she will be in Kurukshetra for the 60th anniversary of Haryana's formation.