The Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, attracts hundreds of millions of pilgrims and tourists to India. The 45-day festival, which started on January 13, is the largest meeting of humanity in the world. It is expected that it will draw around 420 million.
That is about 200 times the number of Muslim grims who participated in the annual Hajj in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia last year. It is so large that it can be seen from space.
According to the Hindu writings, gods and demons once have the cosmic ocean in search of the nectar of immortality. During this battle, Droplels Nectar fell in four holy places. The spiritual Hindu Festival takes place in the 12 years at one of those four locations.
This year it will be held in the city of Prayagraj in the Noord -Indian state Uttar Pradesh. This year’s event is considered particularly special because it matches a rare, one -off celestial configuration.
Hundreds of boats and thousands of devoted along the banks of Prayagraj. (Ava Poonawala)
Crowds of devoted have been handed over in North -India to dip At the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers. Hindus, who are good for almost 80% of more than 1.4 billion people from India, believe that a third invisible river, the mythical Saraswati, also meets the confluence.
The legend states that a dip in the holy waters will clean them from sins and give salvation. Baden takes place daily, but on the most favorable data, Naga Sadhus, Hindu Ascetics, go into the holy rivers at dawn.
Ava Poonawala, a resident of Mumbai, India, did not make the journey as a pilgrim, but to “witness the greatest religious event in the world in our lives,” she explained to Fox News Digital. She took a dip of early 6 o’clock, just when the sun rose.
After her cold dip, she expressed herself a reinforced and to feel in peace.
“Everyone seemed to be there with one goal,” she told Fox News Digital. “And that was spiritually awakening.”
Rudaksh Baba sets up camp in Prayagraj who wears thousands of beads. (Ava Poonawala)
According to every standard, the Maha Kumbh Mela is a huge enterprise. To the tens of thousands Holy men, pilgrims And tourists, authorities have built a vast tent city on the river banks. It is equipped with more than 150,000 tents and toilets, 3,000 kitchens and 11 hospitals, as well as roads, electricity, water and communication towers.
It covers about 15 square miles. About 50,000 security personnel, supported by cameras with artificial information, are stationed in the city to preserve and manage the law and ordering the crowd.
“I was blown away by the incredible size of this event,” Poonawala told Fox News Digital. “It’s just unimaginable how they put all this together.”
A foreplay Stamped broke out At the festival last week it is said that about three dozen people killed people and they injured much more. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered participation to “devoted people who lost their loved ones” without specifying the number of death.
The police reported that the Stormloop took place when hundreds of millions of pilgrims hurried to the holy waters on the most favorable day of the festival. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said that some devoted tried to jump crowd management barricades and activate the falling in love. The large processions of the Kumbh, which were shortened last week, have since resumed.
Prior to the Stormloop, the festival saw a short but large fire, which was quickly extinguished.
A woman who was injured in a rush at the Maha Kumbh festival is performed by safety officers in the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati Rivers, on Mauni Amavasya, or New Monday, Uttar Pradesheh , India, January 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
At least 30 dead in Stampede at the massive Maha Kumbh festival in India, the police say
For many, the miracle of the Maha Kumbh Mela is neither in the religious nor spiritual experience, but rather the Cultural Extravaganza. It not only brings ascreed monks, naked ascetes and priests dressed dressed in saffron. It also attracts tourists with selfie sticks and awesome foreigners.
Uttar Pradesh has become to the utmost to promote this year’s festival as a tourist event and offers luxury packages and experiences. The government even organized helicopters to shower petals on the saints and seers who took a holy dip. The State has assigned more than $ 765 million this year.
The Kumbh has pulled people from all layers of society, whether they are billionaires Laurene Powell JobsThe wife of the late Steve Jobs, or athletes such as Olympic boxer Mary Kom. Bollywood stars and celebrities such as Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and his fiancé, actress Dakota Johnson, have been donated to the festival.
Even royalties, such as King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck from Bhutan, appear. On Wednesday, exactly a week after the Stormloop, Premier Modi arrived in Prayagraj to take a holy dip.
Saffron coated priests on the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025. (Ava Poonawala)
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The popularity of the Kumbh Mela has steadily increased over the years because improved infrastructure and facilities have attracted more people. This year the huge event is also plastic -free and environmentally friendly for the first time. The festival is an important one Test for India To present Hinduism and culture, as well as dealing with tourism and crowd management.
“The ground buzzed on all hours, right through the night in the morning,” said Poonawala. “It was so surrealistic with so much purity. I can’t even start explaining.”
