What is the Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering in India, really like?

The world’s largest religious gathering, the Mahakumbh Mela, is currently underway in the Indian city of Prayagraj. The Mahakumbh Mela is held every 12 years. This year, the Indian government estimates that 400 million people will attend the fair.

The fair began on January 13, just a day before Makar Sankranti. The religious rituals of the Kumbh Mela began with the first ‘Shahi Snan’ on the second day. This year, the fair will continue until February 26.

According to Hindu religious tradition, only Naga monks are entitled to take the first Shahi Snan. Then other saints and common people take a bath at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the now invisible Saraswati rivers.

According to a section of Hindus, bathing at the specific confluence of the rivers at the Kumbh Mela can lead to ‘moksha’.

About 6 million people bathed at the confluence on the first day, according to the fair authorities.

The entire Uttar Pradesh administration, including Prayagraj city, has arranged tents for free accommodation for this fair, as well as various luxurious arrangements.

Including daily house rent of up to one lakh rupees.

Hundreds of special trains are being run from big cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, along with the Uttar Pradesh State Transport Corporation running about seven thousand buses.

Many are also calling the organization of the Kumbh Mela this time a ‘Digital Kumbh’.

For the fair, almost everything is being done digitally, including special apps, QR codes, Google Maps, finding missing relatives and friends, bus and train schedules.

What is the religious importance of the Mahakumbh?

Three types of Kumbh Mela are held in four cities in India – Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, and Nashik in Maharashtra. Apart from the Mahakumbh, the full Kumbh and the half-Kumbh are also organized. However, the Mahakumbh is held only in Prayagraj.

Every 12 years, the Kumbh Mela is held in Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik and Prayagraj in sequence. According to a section of Hindus, this year there is a conjunction of planets and stars that came after 144 years.

According to Hindu mythology, during the churning of the ocean, there was a fight between demons and gods over ‘Amrit’.

Hinduism believes that drinking this ‘Amrit’ gives immortality.

During that fight, a few drops of Amrit fell in Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain. It is also stated in the mythology that it took 12 days for the pot of Amrit to reach heaven from the mortals.

And a day for the gods is a year according to the mortals. That is why the full Kumbh is organized once in 12 years.

Naga monks and royal bath

According to the custom, Naga monks can take the first royal bath at the sacred Sangam for Hindus. There are three Shahi Snan days this year.

Apart from the Shahi Snan day, there are other special days where special bathing is done. It is believed that the Shahi Snan tradition was introduced between the 14th and 16th centuries.

The behavior of the saints and monks during bathing would become quite royal.

It is believed that these special bathing days are called Shahi Snan because of that ‘royal’ or ‘royal’ behavior.

The Naga monks first go down to take the Shahi Snan at the confluence of three rivers, i.e. Tribeni. Then Mahamandaleshwar and other saints take a bath.

The part of the Kumbh Mela where the saints and monks have set up their akharas or camps, is the most crowded with devotees.

In the meantime, the Naga monks have gathered at the ‘Panch-Dashnam Juna Akhara’.

Naked, covered in ash and with a rosary of Rudraksha beads around their necks, these Naga monks have always been a main attraction for devotees.

BBC correspondents report that even in the bitter cold, these Naga monks are sitting naked with a small fire lit in front of them.

The devotees present there are taking their blessings and also taking pictures.

However, many of these Naga monks object to being photographed.

A Naga monk told the BBC, “If you can do sadhana properly, you can conquer even winter. The power of devotion is great, because of this we do not feel cold. We are Aghori Baba. Instead of clothes, we apply ash on our bodies. That makes the cold a little less.”

A few other saints have also caught the attention of the media this time.

They claim that they have been raising one hand for many years. They call themselves ‘Urdhabahu’ saints.

Digital Mahakumbh

The Uttar Pradesh government is using digital technology along with all kinds of services to facilitate the devotees gathered at this year’s Mahakumbh.

A separate app has been created for the fair, chatbots have been created using artificial intelligence, and all kinds of information can be obtained by scanning QR and codes.

Digital technology is even being used to search for missing persons at the fair.

The Mahakumbh app is available in 11 languages.

Starting from the journey plan, to the detailed information about the ‘tent city’ where it has been set up, tourist guides, business and emergency services – everything is available through this app.

Four separate QR codes of Mahakumbh have been spread all over India in the form of advertisements for several months now.

Even hoardings have been put up at many bus stands in Kolkata with that QR code.

One of these QR codes is for administrative information.

Scanning the green code opens a 28-page PDF document, where the phone numbers of all the administrative officers and police stations associated with the fair are available.

Again, a separate map of Mahakumbh Mela has also been created under special arrangements with Google.

328 artificial intelligence cameras have been installed.

Drones are also available with these cameras for surveillance.

The government has set up thousands of tents for devotees to stay free of cost – that area is called ‘Tent City’.

Again, there are luxurious facilities like five-star hotels here. The one-night rent of those luxurious tents or villas is more than one lakh rupees.

The Indian Railway Catering Service has built a separate ‘tent city’, which has been named ‘Mahakumbh Gram’.

They have built super-deluxe rooms, tents and villas in this ‘village’. The daily rent there is 16 thousand to 20 thousand rupees.

Again, a ‘dome city’ has been built next to Arail Ghat. A dome-shaped glass house has been built 18 feet above the ground.

Bhanu Prasad Singh, the director of that hotel, told the BBC that all the facilities of a five-star hotel can be found here.

Domestic and foreign devotees come here. On the days when there is a Shahi Snan, the rent of our hotel is one lakh 11 thousand rupees. On other days, the rent is 81 thousand rupees per day in their luxurious hotel.

On the other side of the city, the administration has made arrangements for devotees to stay free of cost, where one can stay for a maximum of seven days.

Mattresses, blankets, filtered drinking water are available for sleeping, as well as medicines.

Apart from these temporary tents or luxurious rooms, the rent of the permanent hotels has skyrocketed.