The most extravagant gathering that mankind has ever witnessed

Yes, you guessed right, the Mahakumbh. I was fortunate to experience this in person on 21st Feb 2025. I would never have attempted to visit the Kumbh Mela even in my wildest imagination. Our dear friends CJ and GC mentioned on our WhatsApp group about their plan to visit the Kumbh. This triggered our curiosity. TJ and I quickly checked the flight fares. It was more expensive than usual. But it was the Kumbh, so it ought to be. After contemplating about the overall budget and availability of accommodation, we decided to take the plunge. We booked our flight from BLR to Varanasi and a cab from Varanasi to Prayagraj. Our stay would be at IRCTC Mahakumbh Gram in Prayagraj (Friday) and Hotel Utsav Grand in Varanasi (Saturday), one night each. We would fly back on Sunday evening from Varanasi to BLR.

Few days after we booked the tickets, it was the Mouni Amavasya Shahi Snan, followed by the stampede. You can imagine our plight!! Throughout the month leading up to our trip, we heard various accounts and experiences, ranging from positive to negative, as we eagerly anticipated our departure date. Did we have thoughts of canceling tickets? Nope... I always felt this was a calling. Many things fell in place at the right time just so that we could make it to the Kumbh successfully. I won't describe them here, but to me this was indeed miraculous. We shared with each other local contact information, articles, insta reels on tips to manoeuvre through the mela that many influencers were sharing every now and then. We were eagerly waiting for the D day with zero expectations.  Even though we were the initial ones to book the trip to Kumbh, several of our friends made last-minute plans and managed to travel there ahead of us. This provided us with valuable information and insights for our upcoming journey.

The departure date was here. We were on board Indigo flight from Bengaluru to Varanasi. From Varanasi airport, our driver picked us up and we immediately started for Prayagraj. Another friend who had visited few days before instructed us not to stop for lunch, but drive directly to Prayagraj to save time.  On any normal day the drive would be 2.5 hours but during Kumbh there were people who took more than 8-9 hours from Varanasi to Prayagraj due to traffic jams at several places. So we carried enough food/snacks to consume in the car itself. We started from the airport at 11:45am. After about an hour into the journey we noticed multiple sections of red lines on the GPS. The driver deviated into smaller lanes passing by several villages. We were fondly remembering the scenes from the OTT series "Panchayat". These villages looked very familiar. There  were large fields of mustard and wheat. The drive was enjoyable through the country side. After about 2 hours we again managed to take the highway towards Prayagraj. We reached Jhunsi at around 3pm, on the outskirts of Prayagraj, beyond which large vehicles were blocked from entering the city. Once we got off the cab with our luggage (just a backpack each - good to go light for such trips) we found many local bikers who were ready to commute tourists to their destinations. We hired two bikes (triple ride) for Rs.1000 per bike (Rs.500 per person) who offered to drop us to Sector 25 (pin on the map below) where the IRCTC Mahakumbh tents were located. The ride was incredibly adventurous passing through some very narrow by lanes of Prayagraj and riding over pontoon bridges specially constructed for the Mahakumbh. We were dropped at the beginning of sector 25 from where we had to walk about a kilometer to reach the IRCTC tents. This sector was also called the VIP sector. At around 4:30pm we checked in and settled down in our respective tents. The tents were neat and clean. We freshened up, repacked our bags for Sangam visit and stepped out for tea. Some of the co-residents said it was a bad time t visit the Sangam today as there were news that CM Yogi Adityanath was visiting and there were huge crowds. Nevertheless we thought of taking a chance. We hired two bikes again (two way) to take us to Sangam, Akhada and back to our tent area. We agreed to pay Rs.2500 per bike. 

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We hopped on to the bikes and started our tedious journey again crossing bridges and small by-lanes and finally reached the main Kumbh / Sangam area. There were thousands of people on the streets, vendors selling food, toys etc, officials announcing lost and found people on public addressal speakers, police officials every 50 meters to name a few. It was a universe by itself. The biker dropped us to a point from where we had to walk to the Sangam. We walked for about 1.5 km and finally reached a point where we thought the waters of the two rivers were somewhat meeting. We took a dip (not to miss photographs to evidence our visit) and there we were , having waited for over a month and traveling 1700km, finally had the privilege that we shared with 60 crore other Indians. We returned to where our bikers were waiting. Visited the Akhada tents. There were very few Sadhus who remained. Many either moved to Kashi or back to their own places as it was almost the end of the mela. We took pictures and returned to our tents. 

What I observed (neither ends of the like-dislike spectrum) about the Kumbh:

1. Only faith matters - People don't mind the filth, chaos, noise, lack of space and many more. What mattered was their faith that a dip in the holy Sangam would liberate their souls.
2. Indians thrive in chaos - There were thousands of families with children as young as few months old who probably had no place to rest. They were camping on the river bed, eating whatever they found edible, rejoicing and chanting Har Har Mahadev. This was their own kind of picnic.
3. Administrative capabilities - It is no less feat to prepare as well as manage a mega religious gathering of this size and stature. Hats off to the UP Govt. There were many hiccups and hurdles but the shear preparedness is to be appreciated. 
4. Locals rising to the occasion - Call it money making tactic or just rising up to the occasion, the locals made this a success for visitors as well as themselves. When large vehicles were stopped from entering the city, the local bikers plied tourists from the city's periphery to the main Kumbh area. There were people who cooked and served food. There were others who contracted to be employed as cleaners, sweepers, e-rickshaw drivers to commute tourists and many more. Hotels thrived, priests prospered. 
5. Police deployment - There were chowkis every 50 meters, with police constables deployed to manage crowd and traffic. This was laudable. They were able to make real time adjustments to traffic movements in order to avoid overcrowding.  It takes a lot to be sane managing the stress, noise, dirt, VIP visits, ruthless tourists who will not follow rules. They deserve to be appreciated. 
6. Indians can make do with any amenity, whether anything exists or not - There were changing rooms every 20 meters on the river bank for everyone to use. But men, women and children would not mind stripping in public. Something noticeable and laudable is that these enclosures were made from recycled plastic and paper. Sustainable Kumbh in a small way.
7. Networking - Earlier, I mentioned my experience with bikers. On the day of our departure from Prayagraj, we embarked on a bike ride with the intention of visiting several temples. However, due to the overwhelming crowds on the streets, we ended up not visiting any of them. After two hours of riding, one of our bikes had a puncture. Fortunately, our rider's quick thinking and strong connections came to the rescue. He contacted a friend who, within just five minutes, managed to arrange for a replacement bike. It was a remarkable display of networking skills and seizing the opportunity.

For now I could manage to re-collect these aspects. Hope to add more whenever I happen to remember more. Happy reading.