The Maha Kumbh Mela Pilgrimage: The World's Largest Religious Festival
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Every 12 years, one of the greatest gatherings of people on earth takes place in India. As many as 100 million people will converge on the banks of sacred rivers to engage in one of the most important rites in the Hindu religion. But what are the reasons so many people undertake the pilgrimage and how exactly do you handle the logistics of so many people going to the same place? Learn more about the Mahakumila, its history and how it works on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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It brings people together in meaningful ways. Kunle and his team are building a Wi-Fi experience that connects one billion devices every year. Learn more about how Comcast is redefining the future of connectivity at comcastcorporation.com slash Wi-Fi. If you go online and search for the largest peaceful gathering of humans in history, you'll find something interesting about the list. The first of which is that all of the greatest gatherings of humans, with just two exceptions, have taken place in the 21st century.

And that's kind of to be expected as there are more people now than before and transportation and communication have gotten much easier. The other interesting thing is that these mega gatherings all involve religious pilgrimages. One of them is the annual Arabin pilgrimage which takes place in Iraq. Millions of Shia Muslims will visit the tomb of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. These pilgrimages may involve between 10 to 30 million people depending on the year.

However, much larger than the annual Arabian pilgrimage are the various Kumbh Mela pilgrimages in India. The Kumbh Mela has its origins in Hindu mythology. The mythology of the Kumbh Mela is deeply rooted in the Hindu legend of the Samudra Mantan, or the churning of the ocean milk, which is described in the ancient scriptures, including the Vishnu Purana and the Bhavagata Purana.

According to the myth, the Devas, aka the gods, and the Asuras, the demons, were in a constant struggle for supremacy over the universe. To gain immortality, they decided to work together to churn the cosmic ocean in search of emrit, the nectar of immortality. To carry out this immense task, the gods and demons used Mount Mandara as a churning rod and Vasuki, the king of the serpents, as a rope. Lord Vishnu and his turtle avatar supported the mountain on his back to prevent it from sinking.

As they churned the ocean, various divine treasures and beings emerged, including Kamandinu, the wish-fulfilling cow, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, Varuni, the goddess of wine, and Kalpavriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree. However, along with these celestial gifts, the churning also produced Halahala, a deadly poison that threatened to destroy the world. Lord Shiva, out of compassion, drank the poison, which turned his throat blue, earning him the name Neelkanth.

After much effort, Dhanvantari, the divine physician, finally emerged holding the sacred kum, or pot of amrit. Seeing this, the asuras attempted to seize the nectar for themselves, leading to a fierce battle between the gods and demons. Fearing that the demons would consume the amrit and become invincible, Vishnu took the form of Mohini, a celestial enchantress of unparalleled beauty. She tricked the demons into allowing her to distribute the nectar, but instead she ensured that only the gods received it.

During the battle, a few drops of nectar spilled from the pot and fell onto four locations on Earth. They were near the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ugen, and Nashik. These places became sacred pilgrimage sites, and it's believed that during certain celestial alignments, the rivers at these locations are imbued with the purifying essence of the nectar.

Bathing in these waters during the kum mela is believed to cleanse one's sins and grant salvation or liberation from the cycle of birth and death. So that's the religious story behind the tradition. The implementation of the kum mela pilgrimages actually works on a cycle that repeats over a series of years. The mag mela, also known as the mini kum, is an annual event that takes place in Prayagraj.

The Ardakum Mela takes place every six years in Prayagraj and in Haridwar. Every 12 years, the Pernakum Mela alternates between the four locations. And then every 144 years, there is a Grand Kum Mela, also known as the Mahakum Mela. The last Mahakum Mela took place in 2013. The Mahakum Mela only takes place in Prayagraj in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

And there's a bit of confusion because the 2025 Kumbh Mela is being called the Maha Kumbh Mela, the same as the 2013 Kumbh Mela. While technically this shouldn't happen again until the year 2157, there are some issues. No one's really sure when the 144-year cycle started. It's been lost to history.

However, in 2025, the astrological alignment is particularly fortuitous. In fact, it hasn't been this good in 144 years. This exceptional event is marked by the simultaneous presence of Jupiter and the Sun in the zodiac sign Aquarius. In Vedic astrology, Jupiter symbolizes wisdom and spiritual growth, while the Sun represents vitality and the soul.

Their conjunction in Aquarius, a sign associated with innovation and collective consciousness, is believed to create a powerful spiritual atmosphere conducive to enlightenment and purification. This unique planetary configuration is considered highly auspicious, offering devotees an extraordinary opportunity for spiritual renewal and self-realization. The alignment is sought to amplify the benefits of participating in the festival's rituals.

What makes the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage special, and why I'm doing an episode on it, is the sheer number of people that participate. In 2019, the Ard Kumbh Mela drew 240 million people. That's 72% of the entire population of the United States, all converging in one place at the city of Prayagraj in the span of a few weeks, with 50 million people there on its busiest day.

The 2025 Mahakumila, which takes place from January 13th to February 26th, is estimated to draw 300 to 400 million people, making it by far the largest gathering of humans in world history. In fact, you don't have to go back that many centuries to a point where 400 million people would be the entirety of the Earth's human population.

For many devotees, attending the Kumbh Mela is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Preparation begins months and sometimes years in advance. One of the important decisions is which day of the festival you wish to arrive to take the ceremonial bath in the river. Most pilgrims travel by train, bus, or on foot, and in some cases by bicycle or cart. Indian railways run special pilgrimage trains to accommodate the massive influx of devotees.

The journey can be exhausting with overcrowded transportation and long hours of travel. Upon reaching the city, they have to navigate through massive crowds, walking for many kilometers to reach the temporary tent city set up along the riverbank. Many people stay in makeshift camps or ashrams while others sleep out in the open under the sky. In addition to ritual bathing, many pilgrims will gather to listen to discourses, receive blessings, and participate in spiritual debates.

They also seek guidance from gurus on meditation, philosophy, and life's purpose. As the kumila draws to a close, pilgrims prepare to return home. Many collect holy water and copper or brass pots to take back for family blessings. Some take vows to lead a more disciplined spiritual life after their transformative experience. The real challenging part of any kumila is the logistics of hosting and supporting it.

Needless to say, this is an incredible challenge for the local and regional governments dealing with an influx of this many pilgrims. In fact, hosting a kumila is unlike any event on the planet. There isn't any other event on the planet that can prepare you for the logistics of an event of this magnitude. Authorities will construct temporary townships with roads, electricity, and water supplies.

A vast temporary city spanning 4,000 hectares has been constructed for 2025, featuring 150,000 tents and essential amenities. Each tent is equipped with fire safety tools and 351 firefighting vehicles are on standby to prevent a conflagration from developing in the tents. A dedicated team of 2,000 trained firefighters is present to respond to any fire-related emergencies. Floating bridges and walkways are built to accommodate pedestrian movements.

One of the biggest challenges is sanitation and waste management. Handling waste disposal, sanitation, and preventing waterborne diseases in a high-density population is a high priority. Nearly 10,000 sanitation workers will be engaged to maintain cleanliness supported by the installation of approximately 150,000 toilets and urinals. There is another problem that is unique to the Kumbh Mela, which has occurred many times in the past. Stampedes.

The 1954 Kumbh Mela was India's first major gathering after independence, attended by an estimated 5 million people. A temporary bridge collapsed due to overcrowding, causing massive panic. Thousands of pilgrims rushed towards the riverbanks, leading to a chaotic stampede, killing over 800 people. In 1986, overcrowding on a narrow bridge caused a collapse, triggering panic and trampling, leading to the deaths of 50 pilgrims.

and in 2003, a similar event resulted in 39 dead and over 125 injured, mostly elderly pilgrims. These past tragedies have resulted in improved zoning and crowd control measures, such as dividing the venue into sectors with limited entry. Real-time surveillance with drones and closed-circuit television monitoring has been adopted so authorities can see what's going on with the millions of attendees. And of course, thousands of police personnel are deployed during the festival for traffic and crowd control.

The Mahakumila is unlike any event on the planet. The sheer scale of the number of people who attend isn't even approached by any other event by a full order of magnitude. So, if you should happen to see footage of this gathering, remember that it isn't just a spiritual journey for millions of people, but also an incredible feat of logistics and organization.

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