An aerial view of devotees taking a holy dip at the Sangam area during the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela festival, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. (PTI Photo)
Mar 1, 2025 08:00 IST First published on: Mar 1, 2025 at 08:00 IST
The six-week-long Maha Kumbh has come to an end. Analysts, though, are still commenting about the crowds, arrangements, water quality and the devotion of millions who thronged Prayagraj. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too penned his thoughts, calling this mammoth congregation the Ekta ka Maha Kumbh — the Maha Kumbh of unity. It is hard to predict the exact number of people who visited the mela and took a holy dip in the sacred waters at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. But it is undeniable that the numbers this time were mind-boggling.
The Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj was the first Kumbh to take place in the era of the omnipresent social media. Popular mediums of communication such as YouTube, Instagram and X provided perfect platforms for more people to know about the grandeur and sacredness of the event, and many proceeded to take part in it. There is no denying the FOMO factor (fear of missing out). Photographs and videos of people taking a dip instantly reached remote corners of the country and encouraged many to undertake the pilgrimage. This FOMO factor should not be dismissed. Instead, it should be seen as a demonstration of the deep-seated spiritual calling of the Hindus. On earlier occasions, the number of devotees was known to diminish towards the mela’s end. However, this time, crowds kept swelling until the end. Nobody was willing to miss this “once in 144 years” occasion.
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Some armchair intellectuals tried to find ways to criticise the Kumbh Mela. Nobody claims that there were no lapses. Two tragedies lead to a painful loss of lives. But the way the central and state administrations conducted the task of managing millions deserves praise. We hosted ministers from several countries where people of Indian origin (PIO) live in large numbers. For them, such crowds were unimaginable. One minister commented that the population equal to that of his entire country was in front of him. It was fascinating for many of them but also intimidating to some. Some of them found perfect urban management lessons in the arrangements made by the administration. Prayagraj is a city of 1.4 million people. It took many pilgrims from all over the world every hour during Kumbh. Yet, the civic administration did not collapse. That proves the efficient management of the event.
One columnist bemoaned that Kumbh Mela was symbolic of the codification of Hinduism and the destruction of its spirit of diversity. Taking a holy dip in sacred waters exists in every stream of Hinduism. Hence describing the same at Prayagraj as “performative” or “obligatory” and accusing it of the Semitisation of Hinduism is ill-informed. Hinduism is pluralist and diverse. But it always had an inherent streak of unity. Hinduism represents “unity in diversity”. It stood for the idea of sarv panth samaadar — equal respect for all ways of worship. But, in the Bhagavad Gita, through Bhagwan Krishna, it also called upon people to “sarv dharmaan parityajya, maam ekam sharanam vraja” (leave all religious doctrines aside and just find solace in Me). Occasions like the Kumbh Mela were designed to promote both the spiritual principles. Prayagraj was replete with gurus from hundreds of different faith traditions. Hence, the worry that the diversity of Hinduism is threatened is unfounded. The great sages of yore had also emphasised the spiritual oneness of the national society. Melas and pilgrimages are meant to promote that idea of innate unity.
Adi Shankara, one of the greatest sages of Hinduism, established four mutts (Hindu monasteries) in four corners of India to bring a semblance of unity among the diverse Hindu sects who worshipped deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha and Surya. He propagated Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic philosophy emphasising the oneness of the individual soul and divine spirit (atman and brahman). Like the Kumbh Mela, Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta too was not an effort to destroy the diversity in Hindu religious practices. His teachings provided a framework to reconcile diverse beliefs and practices, including those of the Buddhists and Sanatanis.
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It was that unity which one witnessed at the Kumbh Mela. PM Modi summed this up beautifully: “At this Ekta ka Maha kumbh, every pilgrim, whether rich or poor, young or old, from villages or cities, from India or abroad, from the East or the West, from the North or the South, irrespective of caste, creed and ideology, came together. This was an embodiment of the vision of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat that filled confidence in crores of people”.
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Massive religious congregations are known in Islam and Christianity as well. For the Shias, the annual multi-day Arba’in pilgrimage to the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad and the third Shia imam, is a big religious affair. This pilgrimage marks the martyrdom of Husayn and takes place annually at Karbala in Iraq. An estimated 20 million people attend the pilgrimage. Equally important and a relatively smaller pilgrimage for the Muslims is the Haj to Mecca, which brings three to four million followers from all over the world to the holy city. For the Christians too, festivals like Semana Santa in Spain and Sinulog in the Philippines attract millions of followers.
Kumbh Mela is undoubtedly much bigger and more inclusive than many of these festivals. Importantly, as PM Modi pointed out, it has now acquired the stature of a “global occasion”. It attracts people of all religions and several nations. It may be the time for the PM to consider handing over the management of future Kumbh Melas to a national body so that its global stature can be further enhanced and Indian spiritual traditions are showcased before the world in a fitting manner.
The writer, president, India Foundation, is with the BJP. Views are personal
