Hindu devotees cross pontoon bridges spanning the river Ganga as they arrive to attend the "Maha Kumbh Mela", or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, India, January 12, 2025. - Photo: Reuters
PRAYAGRAJ, (India): A six-week Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival begins in India on Monday (Jan 13), a Hindu sacred event that will be the world's largest gathering of humanity as it showcases religion, spirituality, tourism and crowd management.
More than 400 million people are expected in the northern city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state over the course of six weeks to take a holy dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers - the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical, invisible Saraswati.
Devout Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred waters absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela, it also brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrested a golden pitcher containing the nectar of immortality from demons.
In a 12-day celestial fight for possession, four drops fell to earth, in the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, which host the festival every three years by rotation.
The Kumbh held once every 12 years in this cycle has the prefix 'maha' (great) as it is considered more auspicious due to its timing and attracts the largest gathering.
The Kumbhs are a big test for authorities to showcase India's ability to organise and manage the movement of millions of people and retain the ancient festival's sanctity.
A sprawling 4,000 hectares of open land along the banks of the rivers has been converted into a temporary city to house the visitors in 150,000 tents and comes equipped with 3,000 kitchens, 145,000 restrooms and 99 parking lots.
Authorities are also installing up to 450,000 new electricity connections, with the Kumbh expected to drain more power than what 100,000 urban apartments in the region consume in a month.
Indian Railways has introduced 98 special trains that will make 3,300 trips during the festival to transport visitors besides regular trains that connect Prayagraj.
Prashant Kumar, the police chief of Uttar Pradesh, said around 40,000 police personnel and cybercrime experts have created a web of surveillance powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to protect and help navigate the sea of humanity at the site. "Security and safety of pilgrims is our priority," said Kumar.
Emergency response capabilities include 125 road ambulances, seven river ambulances and air ambulances for swift medical assistance.
"I am fortunate to host one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals in my state," state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told the Aaj Tak TV channel.
Adityanath is also a powerful Hindu monk and a popular hardline Hindu politician in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A successful Maha Kumbh is expected to burnish the BJP's record of reclaiming and glorifying India's religious and cultural symbols for its Hindu base, promised by Modi and Adityanath since their Hindu nationalist party swept to power nationally in 2014.
The state government has allocated 64 billion rupees ($765 million) for this year's event, officials said. It has also promoted the Kumbh Mela at several international tourism expositions and invited foreign representatives.
In 2021, Modi's government had refused to call off the Kumbh festival despite a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases and allowed thousands of ash-smeared ascetics and devout Hindus to take a dip in the Ganga, possibly fearing a backlash from religious leaders in the Hindu-majority country.
What is it?
The Kumbh Mela is held every three years in four cities on the banks of sacred rivers across India. The one held once every 12 years in this cycle has the prefix “maha” (great) as it is considered more auspicious due to its timing and draws the largest gathering.
Devout Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred rivers absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela, it also brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
How it started
The Kumbh Mela traces its origins to the Hindu text Rigveda and the word kumbh refers to a pitcher containing the elixir of immortality, which emerged during a divine event called the Sagar Manthan or churning of the cosmic ocean.
A celestial battle over this elixir took place over 12 divine days, equivalent to 12 human years. Drops of the nectar fell at four places – Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain – which became the venues of the Kumbh.
At the Kumbhs, devotees belonging to different Hindu sects, or Akharas, take part in grand processions and the Shahi Snaan or royal bath when they take a dip in the sacred river.
The grand spectacle attracts millions of visitors who come not just to partake in the ritual, but also to see thousands of saints and hermits, often clad in their traditional saffron attire, take a dip in near-freezing temperatures.
Who will attend?
Officials in Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, are expecting more than 400 million people to swarm the large, temporary city created at the point where the Ganga and Yamuna rivers meet the Saraswati, a mythical, invisible river.
Attendees include saints, or sadhus, who follow a strict path of spiritual discipline and hermits who leave their secluded lives and visit civilisation only during the Kumbh Mela.
The fascination with the Kumbh is not limited to India alone. In the past, celebrities such as actor Richard Gere, movie director David Lynch and Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lama have attended the event.
In 2017, the Kumbh Mela was included in Unesco’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
How is it being organised?
Given its gigantic size, organising the Maha Kumbh Mela is a mammoth task for the authorities, one that gets bigger every time. In contrast, about 1.8 million pilgrims attended the Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in 2024.
The authorities have set up 150,000 tents to accommodate the pilgrims, whose number is expected to be around three times the population of Russia.
The authorities also have a target to provide 450,000 new electricity connections, with more than half of these already allotted.
Around 5,000 workers are involved as the Kumbh is expected to consume power worth nearly 300 million rupees (S$4.7 million) – more than what 100,000 urban apartments in the region drain in a month on average.
Additional toilets have been set up and sanitation facilities enhanced to provide better infrastructure.
Drones and surveillance cameras are being deployed to ensure the safety of visitors. Stampedes have been a common occurrence at the Maha Kumbh in the past, with 36 pilgrims killed in 2013. - Reuters
