A “stampede-like situation” at one of the biggest religious festivals in India, the Maha Kumbh Mela, led to multiple casualties on Wednesday, police said.
A massive crowd, estimated to be 100 million, had gathered for a ritual early in the morning when a stampede occurred, leaving dozens of pilgrims dead and many more injured.
Ambulances were dispatched to the scene and the injured were taken to a makeshift hospital.
What is Maha Kumbh Mela?
The Maha Kumbh Mela is one of Hinduism’s holiest festivals, held once every 12 years at Prayagraj in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh where the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
The rivers are considered holy by Hindus and the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi has spent millions of rupees trying to “revive” the Saraswati
The confluence of the rivers is called Sangam and a “holy dip” in the waters is regarded as one of the festival’s main rituals.
The dip, called Shahi Snan or royal bath, attracts millions of devotees and is led by Hindu priests and ascetics.
The holy dip is supposed to lead to spiritual purification and moksha, or salvation.
Kumbh Mela and Ardh Kumbh Mela
In contrast to the Maha Kumbh Mela, the Kumbh Mela occurs every three years, rotating among four locations – Haridwar in northern Uttarakhand state, Ujjain in central Madhya Pradesh state, Nashik in western Maharashtra state, and Prayagraj. The Ardh Kumbh Mela takes place every six years in Haridwar and Prayagraj.
Prayagraj was earlier known as Allahabad. The name was changed by Adityanath’s Hindu nationalist state government in 2018.
The 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela, running from 13 January to 26 February, is expected to draw around 400 million pilgrims, making it one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.
Preparation for grand religious festival
To accommodate and regulate the massive influx of pilgrims, the government of Uttar Pradesh constructed a temporary city along the banks of the Ganga river, complete with tents, toilets, streets, pontoon bridges, and waste management systems.
Managing crowds has long been a challenge at the Kumbh Mela festivals. In 2013, a stampede at a railway station left 42 people dead and 45 injured as thousands of pilgrims arrived for the festival. Since then, authorities claim to have significantly improved safety measures.
Another stampede took place in 2001 when thousands of devotees gathered for the “holy dip” at a riverbank in Haridwar.
This year, the Uttar Pradesh government deployed advanced technology to track crowd movements, allowing police to regulate the flow of people more effectively.
