The world’s largest gathering of humanity began in India on Monday (Today)with the opening of the Kumbh Mela, a six-week Hindu festival organizers expect to attract up to 400 million pilgrims.
Tens of thousands of Hindus seeking absolution of their sins immersed themselves on Monday in freezing waters at the confluence of sacred rivers, as India began a six-week festival expected to draw the world’s largest gathering of humanity.
Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival, as the religious event in the city of Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh is called, attracts more than 400 million visitors, both Indians and tourists.
As many as 40,000 police officers are on guard to provide security and help manage the crowds, while surveillance cameras equipped with artificial intelligence AI capabilities will ensure continuous monitoring.
“It is our festival,” said ascetic Hazari Lala Mishra, who immersed himself before sunrise, which is considered an auspicious time. “(It is) the only festival for hermits and monks, and we wait for it desperately.”
Authorities expect Monday’s first ritual dip to draw more than 2.5 million visitors, followed by a “royal bath” on Tuesday reserved for ascetics, in the belief that it absolves them of sin and confers salvation from the cycle of life and death.
Amid public warnings to walk in lines without halting anywhere, droves of marchers headed for bathing positions to await sunrise at the confluence of the three holy rivers, the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical, invisible Saraswati.
Advancing toward the waters’ edge in the winter morning fog, they chanted invocations such as “Har Har Mahadev” and “Jai Ganga Maiyya” in praise of the Hindu deities Lord Shiva and Mother Ganga, who personifies India’s holiest river.
“I am excited but now scared because I didn’t expect this crowd,” said Priyanka Rajput, a fashion model from Delhi, the capital, who accompanied her mother. “This is my first Kumbh and I came here only because my mother is very spiritual.”
The Kumbh originates in a Hindu tradition that the god Vishnu, known as the Preserver, wrested away from demons a golden pitcher that held the nectar of immortality.
In a 12-day celestial fight for its possession, four drops of the nectar fell to earth, in the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, where the festival is held every three years in rotation.
The Kumbh held once in 12 years in this cycle has the prefix ‘maha’ (great) as its timing renders it more auspicious and it attracts the largest crowds.
A showcase mix of religion, spirituality and tourism like no other in India, the event offers a test in crowd management for authorities in the world’s most populous country who must balance arrangements for millions while retaining its sanctity.
A temporary city sprawling over 4,000 hectares (9,990 acres) has sprung up along the river banks with 150,000 tents to house the visitors, and is equipped with 3,000 kitchens, 145,000 restrooms and 99 parking lots.
Authorities are also installing as many as 450,000 new electricity connections, with the Kumbh expected to consume more power than 100,000 urban apartments require in a month.
Indian Railways has added 98 trains to make 3,300 trips carrying festival visitors, in addition to regular services to Prayagraj.
Uttar Pradesh is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which hopes a successful Kumbh Mela will burnish its efforts to reclaim and glorify India’s religious and cultural symbols.
That has been a plank for the party’s Hindu base promised since Modi swept to power nationwide in 2014.
“The Maha Kumbh embodies India’s timeless spiritual heritage and celebrates faith and harmony,” Modi said in a post on X.
Organizers say the scale of preparations for the Kumbh Mela is akin to setting up a temporary country from scratch — in this case, one more populous than the United States and Canada combined.
“Some 350 to 400 million devotees are going to visit the mela, so you can imagine the scale of preparations,” festival spokesman Vivek Chaturvedi said.
Around 150,000 toilets have been built and a network of community kitchens can each feed up to 50,000 people at the same time.
Another 68,000 LED light poles have been erected for a gathering so large that its bright lights can be seen from space.
Authorities and the police have also set up a network of “lost and found” centers and an accompanying phone app to help pilgrims lost in the immense crowd “to reunite with their families.”
India is the world’s most populous nation, with 1.4 billion people, and so is used to large crowds.
The last celebration at the site, the “ardh” or half Kumbh Mela in 2019, attracted 240 million pilgrims, according to India’s government.
That compares to an estimated 1.8 million Muslims who take part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
The government calls the Kumbh Mela a “vibrant blend of cultures, traditions, and languages, showcasing a ‘mini-India’ where millions come together without formal invitations.”
The Kumbh Mela, or “festival of the sacred pitcher,” is held at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati rivers.
Its emblematic ritual is mass bathing in the holy rivers, with the dawn charge often led by naked, ash-smeared holy men, many of whom will have walked for weeks to reach the site.
Hindus believe that those who immerse themselves in the waters cleanse themselves of sin, breaking free from the cycle of rebirth and ultimately attaining salvation.
Many pilgrims embrace a life of simplicity during the festival — vowing non-violence, celibacy and the offering of alms — and focusing on prayer and meditation.
Santosh Mishra, 55, from a village near the holy Hindu city of Varanasi, said he and his neighbors were “super excited” for the fair to begin.
“The whole village will be going,” Mishra told AFP. “It’s a great feeling when everyone takes a plunge in the river together.”
The festival is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.
Four drops of nectar were spilt during the battle and one landed at Prayagraj, where the Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years.
The other three fell on the cities of Nashik, Ujjain and Haridwar, where smaller festivals are held in intervening years.
The exact date of each celebration is based on the astrological positions of the Sun, Moon and Jupiter.
Ceremonies include the visually spectacular “aarti,” when vast numbers of priests perform rituals holding flickering lamps.
Devotees also float a sea of twinkling prayer lamps, crafted from baked flour, which glow with burning mustard oil or clarified butter.
Monday marks the start of festivities, coinciding with the full moon, with celebrations culminating on February 26, the final holy bathing day.
The mythic battle that undergirds the Kumbh Mela celebrations is mentioned in the Rig Veda, a sacred Hindu text written more than 3,000 years ago.
The festival was also mentioned by Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar Hiuen Tsang, who attended in the seventh century.
UNESCO lists the Kumbh Mela as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
It describes it as “the largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims on earth,” saying it “plays a central spiritual role in the country, exerting a mesmeric influence on ordinary Indians.”
