People celebrate many carnivals worldwide. For example, there’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans and France, which takes place annually during Lent on Ash Wednesday, just before 40 days of fasting. Similarly, the Rio carnival in Brazil and various festivities in the Caribbean Islands occur right before the beginning of Lent. These carnivals embrace hedonism, leading to an explosion of dancing, eating and merrymaking.

However, the largest festival of them all is the Kumbh Mela in India, with the Maha Kumbh Mela being the grandest, celebrated once every 144 years. Unlike the carnivals of the Western world, the Kumbh Mela embodies asceticism drawing sadhus and sanyasis from the remote corners of the Himalayas and other holy cities. These spiritual seekers gather with pilgrims from across the globe to rejuvenate their spiritual energies.

The mythology of the Kumbh Mela originates from the Samudra Manthan, a cosmic battle that took place between the Gods and demons over a pot of nectar (amrit) which emerged during the churning of the oceans. The Gods wrested the pot of nectar from the demons and, in the ensuing battle, a few drops of amrit fell at four locations onto India: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. These sites became sacred as a result. Bathing in the holy river during the Kumbh Mela not only purifies one’s sins but also the soul, leading to moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth). Among these sites the Prayagraj Triveni Sangam is considered to be the most sacred, where the Yamuna and Ganga merge with the mystical Saraswati, forming a Triveni — a confluence of three rivers in Prayagraj.

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Maha Kumbh Mela 2025

The 2025 Prayagraj Kumbh Mela, also referred to as a Maha Kumbh Mela, is celebrated following 12 successive Kumbh Melas. The previous Maha Kumbh Mela was celebrated in 1881, and the next will be in 2169. The 2025 Kumbh Mela will span 45 days from January 13 to February 26. 

The normal Kumbh Mela rotates every 12 years across the four locations — Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik — based on astrological calculations of Jupiter (Guru), the Sun (Surya) and the Moon (Chandra). The 2025 Kumbh Mela aligns with the same planetary alignment present during the original Samudra Manthan, making it exceptionally significant.

The statistics of the current Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj are staggering. Over 400 million pilgrims and tourists from around the world will attend the festival over its 45-day duration. To put this into perspective, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar attracted 3.5 million people over 40 days, and the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics drew 11 million people over 18 days. The Kumbh Mela, in contrast, will host an audience equivalent to over 110 FIFA World Cups. 

The Uttar Pradesh State government has allocated ₹12,000 crores (~$1.4 billion) to enhance infrastructure for the Kumbh Mela. Experts estimate that the festival will generate around ₹2 lakh crores (~$25 billion) in revenue. Authorities have constructed a temporary tent city spanning 4000 hectares (~9884 acres) along the banks of Ganga and Yamuna, featuring 150,000 tents, along with sanitation and transport facilities. Over 40,000 security personnel will oversee the event, and the bathing area includes 12 kilometers of temporary railings in the river for easy bathing. The site also offers 1800 hectares (~4448 acres) of parking space and 450 km of internal roads. Organizers have built 30 temporary pontoon bridges over the holy Ganga on both sides of the river to facilitate movement.

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The akhadas

The Kumbh Mela’s major attractions are the akhadas and dhams (temporary ashrams), where spiritual leaders and their followers live for the 45-day duration. The festival also revolves around the holy dip in the Triveni Sangam where the rivers Yamuna, Ganga and Saraswati converge. Several dhams, including the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and others, operate throughout India and provide free meals to pilgrims and the poor as a service. The Kumbh Mela hosts 14 akhadas, including 13 traditional ones and a newly established akhada in 2015 for transgender people. There are many famous akhadas, such as the Jina and Niranjan akhadas. Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of Steve Jobs, even had a brief stay at Niranjan’s akhada.

The most famous of these akhadas are the ones housing the naga sadhus who smear their bodies with ash and wear only a loincloth. Female naga sadhus, on the other hand, dress in saffron clothes. The aghoris, known for their reclusive and esoteric practices, emerge only on the special days of the religious baths (shani snans) from midnight to 7:00 AM in the freezing hours of the night, marching in a procession from camps to akhadas, chanting hymns full of religious fervor. These aghoris wear necklaces made of skulls and live in cemeteries, and practice occult and tantric rituals. They participate in only six holy baths during the festival, with the most holy date being January 29, 2025.

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A testament to human devotion

The Kumbh Mela is an emotional and spiritual phenomenon — one grand festival, a congregation of humanity united in peaceful celebration. It fosters an inward journey, encouraging participants to cleanse their sins by taking a holy dip and chanting hymns.

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A friend once summed up the experience perfectly: “It’s the largest collection of the devoted, the gullible, touts, conjurers, tricksters charlatans, the disillusioned, the opportunists (including photographers), derelicts, the underprivileged, the privileged and more. But all things considered, the brotherhood and love all around diminishes everything else… It’s a mad and fantastic churning of humanity. The true India. A circus one must witness to believe, and I am glad I did.”

The Kumbh Mela stands as a testament to the devotion of millions of poor pilgrims,  sadhus and sadhvis. It encapsulates the heart and soul of India and embodies the brotherhood of humanity. To truly grasp its significance, one must witness it firsthand in all its grandeur and totality.

[Kaitlyn Diana and Lee Thompson-Kolar edited this piece.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.