The Prayagraj Mahakumbh, which will take place between January 13 and February 26, 2025, will surpass the earlier gatherings, both in terms of the number of visitors and the scale of arrangements made to manage one of the largest religious festivals in the world, said Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak in Mumbai on Sunday.
Pathak, who was in Mumbai to invite the Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the festival, also welcomed people of Maharashtra, saying that unprecedented arrangements have been made to assist devotees in the pilgrimage. This includes more than 900 special trains, 7000 buses, special hospitals, and tent cities to accommodate visitors. Pathak said that the latest technology will be deployed to keep the festival safe, including attribute-base search for locating people, Radio Frequency Identification wristbands for every visitor, and mobile app tracking.
“Many of you may have witnessed the divine and grand experience of the Prayagraj Kumbh in 2019 which became an indelible symbol of India’s cultural pride on the global stage. The world widely acknowledged the efficient management of the event,” said Pathak. “The Mahakumbh is not just an ordinary holy bath; the festival is part of India’s religious and cultural heritage. It is a festival where all difference are forgotten and the entire Bharatvarsh gathers in one place,” said Pathak, adding that Saint Tulsidas, who lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, talks about Prayagraj in his Ramcharitmanas, the epic poem on Lord Rama.
Sanjay Nishad, Uttar Pradesh Minister of Fisheries, who was also present at meeting, said, “Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh double-engine government is uniquely showcasing the cultural, spiritual, traditional, and mythological essence of the rate and highly distinguished religious event of Mahakumbh on the globad that his government is inviting people from all states and the world to the grand festival
The gathering, held in a cycle of six or 12 years at four different sites, Prayagraj, Ujjain, Haridwar, and Nashik. In Prayagraj, the gathering takes place at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati. The festival is in UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The event commemorates the pot (kumbh) of amrit, the elixir of immortality that was produced by the churning of the milky ocean and the fight between the gods and demons for the pot. It is believed that drops from the kumbh fell at the four spots that have now become the sites of the pilgrimage. The 2025 gathering is expected to attract 450 million pilgrims, according to Pathak, compared to the 200 million in 2019 in Prayagraj.
This year, to reduce pollution and waste, single-use plastic will be banned. Sewage drains have been diverted away from the rivers to ensure that water standards at the bathing sites are clean.
The Mahakumbh
Date: January 13 to February 26
The number of expected visitors: 450 million
Medical facilities: 100-bed hospital and four smaller medical facilities at the site
Devotees will gather at 44 ghats or steps along the two rivers.
Single-use plastic banned at the festival
Three lakh saplings planted in Prayagraj to make the festival more environmentally-sustainable
