Introduction

In Sanskrit language, the word ‘Kumbh’ means ‘pitcher'. The origin of Kumbh is traceable in the mythological belief that relates to a story which says that at the time of the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan) by the devas (gods) and the asuras (loosely translated as demons), Dhanvantari emerged carrying a pitcher in his hands, filled with Amrit, or the elixir of immortality. In an endeavour to save it from the asuras, Indra's son, Jayant, ran off with the pot in his hand. He was accompanied by the Sun, his son Shani, Brihaspati (Jupiter), and the Moon to protect him and the pot. On his way, the Amrit spilt at four places, namely, Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain, and Nashik-Trimbakeshwar. Jayant ran for twelve days, and as one day of the devas is equal to a year of humans, Kumbh Mela is celebrated at these locations every twelve years, based on the relative positions of the Sun, the Moon, and Jupiter. At Prayagraj and Haridwar, Ardha (half) Kumbh is also celebrated every six years. The festival is called Purna Kumbh when celebrated after twelve years. All four places are situated near the banks of holy rivers such as Haridwar-the Ganga river, Prayagraj-the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, Ujjain-Shipra, and Nashik-Trimbakeshwar--Godavari river. Lakhs and crores of devotees reach the places to take a dip in the holy waters of these sacred rivers in the hope of absolving themselves from their sins and liberating themselves from the cycle of birth and death, thereby readying themselves for spiritual liberation.

Though the antiquity of Kumbh Melas is not exactly known yet such religious congregations have been taking place since time immemorial. Religious texts also link Kumbh Mela's origins to the 8th-century philosopher, Adi Sankaracharya, who is credited with establishing the practice of assemblage of ascetics from across the country, for holding discussions on religion. It was he who brought the monastery system into existence and the 13 Akharas (warrior-saint sects), namely, Nirwani, Atal, Niranjani, Anand, Juna, Awahan and Agni, the two Udasin Akharas (Naya and Bada) and the Nirmala Akhara. In 2015, one more Akhara, the Kinnar (transgender) Akhara came into existence by transgender rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi. The Akhara is still vying for space amongst the community of religious leaders.

Though the Kumbh Melas are being organised regularly at the above-mentioned four places with the help of the governments and the district administration, in 2017, UNESCO inscribed the Kumbh Mela on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.1 Mahatma Gandhi had visited the Kumbh Mela in 1918.2

Religious Activities at Kumbh Mela: Various Dimensions

Kalpwas:

While most of the devotees come to the Kumbh Mela site for only one ritual dip in the holy river to wash away their sins, many of them stay there at the riverbank, to take a break from the daily humdrum routine and earn spiritual credit also. Such people are known as Kalpwasi, and their long sojourn is termed as Kalpwas. 2

Akhara Activities:

1. Various Akharas use the fair as an opportunity to elect their chiefs and divide powers at its council meeting called the Dharma Sansad. This year the meeting is scheduled for January 27.
2. The various Sadhu Akharas set up camps at the Mela site. They go for ritual baths, called Shahi Snan, in large processions with full decorum of the particular Akharas. In the past, the occurrence of bloody battles was witnessed on the point of which Akhara would bathe first on the basis of their considered importance.
3. The process of initiation of sadhus as Naga ascetics starts and is completed during Kumbh. Till date, Juna Akhara, the largest Hindu monastic order in terms of the count of sadhus, inducted 800 Naga sadhus into its rolls by giving them religious initiation.3 Likewise, Niranjani Akhada anointed five senior sadhus as Mahamandleshwars (head priests) during a ceremony in Prayagraj Mahakumbh this year. Amidst the chanting of mantras by the Vedic scholars, all senior sadhus present at the site, offered the newly anointed mahamandaleshwars a piece of cloth as part of ‘'chadar poshi’ ritual marking their support to their anointments.4 Thus, Kumbh Mela provides a platform to induct new entrants as sadhus, sadhus into Naga sadhus, and anointment of senior sadhus as mahamandaleshwars.

Mahakumbh-2025 at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh

The Maha Kumbh is the crest of all Kumbhs. The Ardh Kumbh occurs every six years while Purna Kumbh occurs every twelve years, and the Maha Kumbh occurs once in 144 years-12 multiplied by 12. It is this unique configuration of planets that lends this Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj a luminous aura.

Renowned writer Mark Twain has portrayed a vivid account of the Kumbh Mela that he witnessed in 1894:

“Then we struck into the hot plain, and found the roads with pilgrims of both sexes, for one of the great religious fairs of India was being held….at the junction of the sacred rivers, the Ganges and the Jumna. Three sacred rivers, I should have said, for there is a subterranean one. Nobody had seen it, but that doesn't signify. The fact that it is there is enough. These pilgrims had come from all over India; some of them had been months on the way, plodding patiently along in the heat and dust, worn, poor, hungry, but supported and sustained by an unwavering faith and belief; they were supremely happy and content, now; their full and sufficient reward was at hand; they were going to be cleansed from every vestige of sin, by these holy waters which make utterly pure whatsoever thing they touch….It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know….No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites. [Few among us] could exhibit the equivalent of this prodigious self-sacrifice, but the rest of us know that we should not be equal to anything approaching it. Still, we all talk self-sacrifice, and this makes me hope that we are large enough to honor it in the Hindoo.”5

The Government of Uttar Pradesh has made elaborate arrangements for this grand spectacle. The significant landmarks can be enumerated as such:

1. Coverage area:

The whole Kumbh Mela area comprises 4,000 hectares at the banks of the river Ganga.

2. Temples and Ghats

• Beautification of 29 ancient temples.
• Construction of 11 corridors.
• 12 km temporary ghats, 9 permanent ghats.
• 8 km of riverfront roads.
• Special arrangements for cleanliness on the Ghats, use of single-use plastic is completely prohibited.

3. Smart City

• Rejuvenation of 300+ parks.
• Widening and strengthening of 201 roads.
• Beautification of 40 intersections and 48 roads.
• Development of 14 ROBs and flyovers.
• Well organized in 25 sectors.
• Inspired by 2,500- a year-old Persian technique first used in Europe around 480 BCE, it has taken over 15 months and a total of 2,213 black floating iron capsules, weighing 5 tons each, to construct the 30-odd pontoon bridges facilitating the movement of vehicles, pilgrims, sadhus, and workers at Maha Kumbh.6

4. Clean Drinking Water Supply

• 1,249 km of water pipeline.
• 7,000 drinking water standposts.
• 200 water pipeline.
• Establishment of Har Ghar Jal Village in 40,000 sq. ft. area.
• 56,000 connections, and 85 tube wells for efficient clean water supply.

5. Swachh Kumbh

• 1.5 lakh toilets.
• 25,000 dustbins, dustbin facility available every 100 metres.
• Deployment of 15,000 sanitation workers and ‘Ganga Sewa Doots'. They will remain deployed across the stretches of ghats to ensure safety, convenience, and cleanliness.
• 160 waste management vehicles.

6. Safe Kumbh

• Deployment of special boats and air force helicopters for security.
• 40 companies of PAC, 85 companies of CRPF, 20 companies of NDRF, 6 companies of SDRF deployed, and 50,000+ security forces deployed.
• 50 fire stations, and 20 fire posts set up. 4300 fire hydrants deployed to handle any emergency.
• Keeping an eagle eye will be 50,000-plus security personnel aided by drones, robotic buoys and all their AI tools.

7. Largest Temporary City

• 1.6 lakh tents in the fair area.
• 69,000 LED lighting and solar hybrid street lighting.
• 450 km of temporary roads and chequered plate sheets.
• 31 pontoon bridges.

8. Next Generation Infrastructure

• Grand Airport: Upgradation of old terminal and construction of new terminal.
• 1,500 signage: Guidelines in 12 constitutional, 6 UN languages.
• 66 new transformers of 250 KVA and a capacity increase of 32 overloaded transformers.
• About 200 km of roads were illuminated with street lights/thematic lights.

9. Digital Kumbh

• Hi-tech digital media centre equipped with a dedicated podcast room, and 65+ workstations.
• Monitoring of 1.6 lakh tents and 1.5 lakh toilets.
• 2,750 + cameras for crowd management and surveillance. The Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC) in the Mela area has emerged as a vital tool for ensuring crowd safety and order. The ICCC not only helps regulate the flow of devotees but also plays a key role in surveillance. Surveillance covers three primary aspects: security, crowd management, and crime prevention. The system also monitors for fire safety, with cameras detecting smoke or flames. Parking arrangements are under constant surveillance too. AI cameras have significantly enhanced operations, though they are not fully relied upon.7
• 24×7 ICCC monitoring.
• 10 Digital Lost and Found Centers.
• The whole exercise of land allotment for 25 sectors was digitised this time eliminating all kinds of discrepancies. The Prayagraj Mela Authority used GIS-based mapping and high-resolution drone surveys to prepare layouts for the 25 sectors of the mela. Conducted before and after the monsoon, these generated georeferenced maps with 0.5 cm accuracy, ensuring precise land allocations. The authority also digitised data from 5,500 institutions that participated in 2019 and integrated it with online applications from new participants. Over 10,000 entities, including akhadas, govt. departments and spiritual/cultural organizations have benefited from this marvel of modern logistics. Permits for services and amenities, too, have been digitised, allowing seamless coordination between institutions, vendors and the Authority.8
• To enhance navigability, the Authority has partnered with Google to integrate into its maps all key landmarks: ghats, toilets, food courts, pontoon bridges, and emergency services. The Kumbh app and website are user-friendly with a multilingual chatbot, SahaAlyak, which can address visitor queries in 11 languages. QR code-based services for ticketing, navigation and emergency assistance will help create seamless logistics, allowing pilgrims to focus on their spiritual journey. Parking has also been reimagined. There is a space for 550,000 vehicles at any time at the 102 designated parking lots spanning 1,850 ha. All are outfitted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to ensure quick entry and exit.9

10. An outlay of Rs. 7,000 crores has been earmarked for the Maha Kumbh mela which is expected to generate up to Rs.2 lakh crore in economic growth.

11. By January 21, 8.80 crore devotees had taken holy dip. This figure is expected to cross 45 crores by the end of the mela.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, Maha Kumbh 2025 is the world's largest religious congregation to date. The challenge before the State government is a daunting one. The security and safety of the devotees is paramount. Government machinery has taken up the challenge in earnest. The use of the latest digital technology has enhanced its efficiency. But the constant vigil and alertness at the end of the police, administrative and other state functionaries is the only imperative to make this grand event a memorable success. Kumbh Melas showcase the magnitude of India's rich cultural and spiritual heritage. It needs to be perpetuated at all costs for the posterity.

.    .    .

References:

1. Amitabh Kant, The Maha Kumbh of faith is also a logistical marvel, Hindustan Times, Jan 12, 2025.
2. Ishita Mishra, A confluence of faith and culture, The Hindu, Jan 19, 2025.
3. K Sandeep Kumar, 800 sadhus initiated as Naga ascetics by Juna Akhad, perform ‘Pind Daan’ for generations, Hindustan Times, Jan 19, 2025.
4. HT Correspondent, Niranjani Akhada anoints five sadhus as mahamandaleshwars, Hindustan Times, Jan 19,2025.
5. Sandeep Balakrishna, 40, OPEN, 20 January 2025.
6. K Sandeep Kumar, 2,500-year-old Persian technique powers Mela's lifeline, Hindustan Times, Jan 18, 2025.
7. HT Correspondent, 45 cr pilgrims, 1 command-how advanced surveillance driving crowd management, Hindustan Times, Jan 18, 2025.
8. Avanish Mishra, Where AI meets Ancient India, 44-45, India Today, Jan 20, 2025.
9. Ibid.