Akhil Vaani | ‘Maha’ Lessons For Bharat From The Maha Kumbh

STEPPING BACK

To put into perspective how monumental a task it was to manage the mammoth Maha Kumbh 2025, I revisit the story of the 2019 Ardh Kumbh Mela, held in Prayagraj. The 2019 edition saw an estimated 24–25 million devotees take a holy dip at Triveni Sangam—a record at the time.

Furthermore, Kumbh Mela 2019 secured a place in the Guinness World Records in three categories:

• The largest traffic and crowd management plan.
• The biggest painting exercise of public sites under the ‘Paint My City’ scheme.
• The largest sanitation and waste disposal initiative.

The story of Maha Kumbh 2025 unfolds in the following paragraphs. However, suffice it to say that as this Maha Kumbh comes to an end, it surpasses the success of 2019 Kumbh by a significant margin and offers invaluable management lessons.

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ONLY HUMANITY MATTERS

The foremost lesson of Maha Kumbh 2025 was universal brotherhood and sisterhood. As millions upon millions of devotees from every corner of India thronged Triveni Sangam and mingled with hundreds of thousands of international devotees and tourists from across the globe, they became part of one vast melting pot, where differences of caste, class, race, and religion were erased.

It was a profound lesson from Bharat to the world.

But how large was the turnout for Maha Kumbh 2025? Here is what is known at the time of writing this piece.

HISTORIC TURNOUT

As per the official figures released by the Government of India through a PIB note at the conclusion of Maha Kumbh 2025, Prayagraj—a city with a population of 12.65 lakh—hosted more than 66 crore pilgrims from across the world over 45 days. And what an unprecedented number it is—greater than the combined population of the United States of America (345,426,571) and Indonesia (283,487,931), the third and fourth most populous countries in the world.

Even if one assumes some degree of double counting in these meticulously curated figures and deducts a few million, it still remains a spectacle unparalleled in human history.

A NEW MILESTONE

The sheer scale of the gathering is evident from the single-day turnout on Mauni Amavasya (29 January 2025), when Maha Kumbh witnessed a record 7.6 crore pilgrims—more than the total population of the United Kingdom—taking the holy dip at Triveni, the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati. On that day, a new milestone was set.

It is also worth noting that in terms of devotees taking the holy dip, Maha Kumbh 2025 surpassed the record turnout of the 2019 Kumbh Mela within the first sixteen days alone.

NEARLY UNBLEMISHED

If a crowd exceeding twice the population of the United States of America—the third most populous nation in the world—descends upon a small city like Prayagraj, and if the entire congregation must move towards Triveni Sangam, it is nearly impossible to ensure that no untoward incident occurs, despite all precautions. Indubitably, a few accidents did take place, but the key lesson lies in how the aftermath was managed and how more serious incidents were prevented.

Here is a brief account of the incidents:

Fire Accidents: Over the span of 45 days, nearly half a dozen fire accidents occurred, the most serious of which gutted more than twenty tents. However, the fire management arrangements proved so impeccable that there were no casualties in any of these incidents.

Stampedes: Whether in India or internationally, religious gatherings account for the highest number of stampede-related deaths. A case in point is the 1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy, which claimed 1,426 lives, and the 2015 Mina stampede, where 2,400 people perished. India, too, has a history of stampedes at pilgrimage sites and temples.

A stampede did occur on 29 January 2025 at Maha Kumbh, resulting in the deaths of 30 people and injuries to over 70 others. This was the sixth Kumbh-related stampede in 70 years and one of the least deadly. While the opposition disputes the official death toll, in an era of free press and even freer social media, the truth is likely closer to the official figures.

The key takeaway here is not why the stampede was not prevented—stampedes at large religious gatherings are exceedingly difficult to avert—but rather, the most significant lesson is what was learned from the incident and how it was ensured that this remained an isolated event.

Highway and railway deaths related to Maha Kumbh: A stampede at New Delhi Railway Station led to the deaths of 18 people, and various newspapers have reported nearly 200 fatalities due to accidents on roads and highways involving people travelling to or returning from Maha Kumbh.

However, it must be emphasised that the deaths at New Delhi Railway Station and on roads and highways were not directly related to Maha Kumbh. The Indian Railways has a less-than-flattering record when it comes to handling surging crowds at stations, and Indian roads and highways are perpetual death traps— in 2023 alone, an average of 475 accidental deaths occurred daily on the country’s roads and highways.

Before delving into the key lessons from Maha Kumbh 2025, it is essential to address the origins and rationale behind this grand event. And at its core, Maha Kumbh is one grand story of “faith all the way".

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HOW DID KUMBH MELA ORIGINATE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

The origin of Kumbha lies in Hindu mythology, with the Sanskrit word Kumbh meaning pitcher or pot. The origins of Kumbh are linked to the story of the Samudra Manthan—the churning of the ocean—by the devas (gods) and asuras (demons), which led to the emergence of Dhanvantari carrying a pitcher of amrit, the elixir of immortality. To prevent the asuras from seizing it, Indra’s son, Jayant, fled with the pot. The Sun, his son Shani, Brihaspati (the planet Jupiter), and the Moon accompanied him to protect both him and the pot.

As Jayant ran, four drops of amrit fell at four locations—Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain, and Nashik-Trimbakeshwar. He ran for 12 days, and since one day for the devas is equivalent to one human year, Kumbh Mela is celebrated at these locations every 12 years, based on the relative positions of the Sun, the Moon, and Jupiter.

Prayagraj and Haridwar also host the Ardh Kumbh (ardh meaning half) every six years. The festival held after 12 years is called the Poorna Kumbh.

THE HISTORY

The Maha Kumbh Mela has been referenced since ancient times, with records dating back to the Maurya and Gupta periods. It received royal patronage from various dynasties, including the Mughals, and was documented by colonial administrators such as James Prinsep. Over the centuries, it has evolved into a global spiritual and cultural phenomenon. Recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage, the Kumbh Mela symbolises India’s enduring traditions, fostering unity, spirituality, and cultural exchange among millions worldwide.

SIGNIFICANCE

All four locations where Kumbh is held are situated on the banks of rivers—Haridwar on the Ganga, Prayagraj at the Sangam (the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati), Ujjain on the Kshipra, and Nashik-Trimbakeshwar on the Godavari.

It is believed that taking a dip in these sacred rivers during Kumbh, under the specific alignment of celestial bodies, washes away one’s sins, accrues punya (spiritual merit), and ultimately leads to moksha (liberation).

The timing of each Kumbh Mela is determined by the astrological positions of the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter, which are believed to mark an auspicious period for spiritual cleansing and self-enlightenment.

MAHA LESSONS FROM MAHA KUMBH

The recently concluded Maha Kumbh offers a moment for introspection, retrospection, and a deep dive into its key lessons—what worked well and what could be improved. The most significant takeaway is that, despite a few unavoidable mishaps, this colossal gathering began peacefully, was conducted peacefully, and culminated peacefully.

The lessons are abundant, but the most crucial ones pertain to the management of large-scale events, exceptionally high-level crowd control, transport provisioning, logistics, health and hygiene management, as well as safety and security coordination.

A distinctive feature of this year’s organisation was the development of a vast temporary city, spanning 10,000 hectares and capable of accommodating up to one crore people at a time. This included thousands of tents and shelters, ranging from basic accommodations to luxury facilities such as IRCTC’s Maha Kumbh Gram.

Ensuring the security and safety of such a massive congregation over an extended period is a formidable challenge. The fact that the event concluded as peacefully as it began provides a valuable lesson in security management. According to official data, security was handled through a seven-tier system incorporating AI-powered surveillance, drone and underwater monitoring, cybersecurity, river safety measures, and emergency response mechanisms.

If the official figures are to be taken at face value, the security of the Maha Kumbh was managed by deploying over 50,000 security personnel, including paramilitary forces, 14,000 home guards, and 2,750 AI-based CCTV cameras, among other measures.

No small feat was the management of health and hygiene on such an enormous scale, which appears to have been handled optimally despite the logistical constraints of an event of this magnitude.

For business leaders seeking valuable lessons, Maha Kumbh provides a textbook case study in planning and execution, fast-tracking infrastructure, logistics management, crisis preparedness, prevention and mitigation, leadership and coordination among ground managers, scalability, and—last but not least—data-driven decision-making.

Managing an event on the scale of Maha Kumbh is never without its challenges. However, the key is not merely identifying the problems but analysing how they were addressed. Disasters do happen—and will continue to happen—but what truly matters is how they are managed.

On the evening of 26 February, as Maha Kumbh 2025 came to an end, the Government of India released a press note titled Mahakumbh 2025: A Spectacle of Faith, Unity, and Tradition, providing a detailed account of how the event was organised. While I remain sceptical of any government-issued information, most of the details appear to be factual.

Before outrightly critiquing the management of Kumbh, it is worth internalising what the government has stated: “As the sacred waters settle, the echoes of devotion and grandeur leave an everlasting imprint on history."

Over to you, readers, to make your own judgement. My only regret is I could not take the train to Prayagraj this time.

The author is multidisciplinary thought leader with Action Bias, India-based international impact consultant, and keen watcher of changing national and international scenarios. He works as president advisory services of consulting company BARSYL. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.