World's largest religious gathering begins in India, hundreds of millions of Hindus expected to attend

Maha Kumbh Festival: The World’s Largest Religious Gathering in Prayagraj

Millions of Hindu devotees, mystics, and holy men and women from all across India have gathered in the northern city of Prayagraj to kick off the Maha Kumbh festival, which is being hailed as the world’s largest religious gathering. This year’s festival, held every 12 years, is expected to draw more than 400 million people—more than the entire population of the United States.

For the next six weeks, pilgrims will gather at the confluence of three sacred rivers—the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati. It is believed that a dip in these holy waters will cleanse them of past sins and bring them closer to achieving the ultimate goal of Hindu philosophy: liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

The Sacred Confluence of Rivers

The Ganges and the Yamuna rivers are especially revered in Hinduism. A holy dip in their waters is said to purify one’s soul and end the cycle of reincarnation. The Maha Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, is held once every 12 years in the most auspicious of cycles, and this year’s gathering is the grandest of them all. Pilgrims believe that the mythical Saraswati river once flowed from the Himalayas through Prayagraj, joining the Ganges and Yamuna.

The festival includes a series of ritual baths by Hindu sadhus (holy men) and other devotees. Every day, people bathe in the waters, but on the most auspicious days, thousands of naked, ash-smeared monks rush to the rivers at dawn to take a dip, hoping for salvation. Many pilgrims stay for the entire 45-day festival, observing austerity, giving alms, and bathing in the holy rivers each morning.

A pilgrim, Bhagwat Prasad Tiwari, shared, "We feel peaceful here and attain salvation from the cycles of life and death." For many, the Maha Kumbh is not just a religious event; it’s a journey to spiritual freedom.

The Roots of the Kumbh Festival

The origins of the Kumbh Mela lie in Hindu mythology. It is believed that the god Vishnu wrested a golden pitcher containing the nectar of immortality from demons. As the story goes, a few drops of this nectar fell at four cities—Prayagraj, Nasik, Ujjain, and Haridwar—where the Kumbh festival is celebrated to this day.

The Kumbh rotates between these four cities, taking place every three years in one of them, with the largest gathering held every 12 years in Prayagraj. In 2019, the Ardh Kumbh (Half Kumbh) gathered 240 million visitors, with around 50 million pilgrims bathing on the busiest day.

The Maha Kumbh: The World’s Largest Gathering

At least 400 million people are expected to visit Prayagraj during this year’s Maha Kumbh festival. This number dwarfs the 2 million visitors who attend the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia each year. The scale of the event is awe-inspiring, and it is also a huge test for the Indian authorities, as the festival is an important showcase of Hinduism, tourism, and crowd management.

The grounds around the confluence have been transformed into a vast tent city that stretches across 15 square miles. This sprawling city is equipped with over 3,000 kitchens, 150,000 restrooms, and essential services like housing, roads, electricity, water, and hospitals. In addition, Indian Railways has set up more than 90 special trains to help transport the millions of pilgrims.

With a substantial increase in security, over 50,000 personnel are stationed throughout the city to ensure smooth crowd management. AI-powered cameras monitor crowd movement and send alerts to control rooms to avoid stampedes.

The Festival’s Political Significance

The Maha Kumbh festival is also politically significant, especially for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Hindu nationalism is a cornerstone of Modi’s political agenda, and the festival has become an important platform to strengthen his party’s relationship with India’s Hindu population, which makes up around 80% of the country’s 1.4 billion people.

Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, is a prominent Hindu monk and politician in Modi’s party. Under his leadership, the state has allocated more than $765 million for this year’s event, further solidifying the BJP’s connection to the festival. Large billboards featuring Modi and Adityanath adorn Prayagraj, along with slogans promoting their government’s welfare initiatives.

In 2019, Modi’s government also changed the city’s Mughal-era name from Allahabad to Prayagraj, a move aligned with the party’s agenda of replacing Muslim-era names with Hindu symbols. Despite controversies, the Kumbh festival remains a vital part of India’s religious and political landscape.

Conclusion

The Maha Kumbh Mela is a grand spectacle of faith, culture, and spirituality. It’s a reminder of the deep religious traditions that continue to thrive in India, drawing millions of people from all walks of life in search of spiritual fulfillment. For those who have never experienced it, the festival is an eye-opening glimpse into the power of religion in India, as well as the country’s ability to organize such a massive event. As the festival continues over the next several weeks, it will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on all those who partake in it.