India: Siblings separated in the “Kumbh ka mela” may no longer serve as Bollywood”s most tried-and-tested story line. With state-of-the-art technology being put in place to keep an eye on every person entering and exiting the mela area, getting lost in Maha Kumbh 2013 could, in fact, pose a giant challenge. For starters, the mela administration has turned the process of allotting living quarters for all seven akharas or sects created by Adi Sankaracharya to strengthen the Hindu religion and unite those practicing different rituals, customs and beliefs online. Starting this Maha Kumbh, devotees and visitors can not only look for the precise location of the akharas they wish to visit, but they can also map their guru”s every movement as they mingle with the crowds in the mela.
Small wonder even sadhus are pulling out iPads to perform split-second searches on Google Maps for the precise location of their preferred akharas. “In previous Kumbh melas , the only technology used was CCTV cameras on watch towers, for surveillance purposes and some wireless handsets. This year, we have broken new ground with advanced technology like GPS mapping, Wimax and specially-built software to ascertain the number of people who come to participate,” said OP Srivastava, manager, Kumbh Mela.
Source: Times of India
