Hindus venerate rivers, and none more so than the Ganges. The faithful believe that a dip in its waters will cleanse them of their past sins.
Wherever other sacred rivers flow into the Ganges, the benefits of bathing at the confluence on auspicious days increases manyfold. A devotee can hope to begin a journey to achieve Hindu philosophy’s ultimate goal — the release from the cycles of birth and death.
The most propitious of these days occur in cycles of 12 years. When the time comes for Prayagraj, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, millions flock to the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers during a festival called the Maha Kumbh Mela.
It has become the largest such gathering of humans anywhere on Earth.
In 2025, between Jan. 13 and Feb. 26, about 400 million people, more than the population of the United States, are expected to participate in the festival.
Planning for such an incredible number of pilgrims can be a logistics nightmare, but the local government has some experience.
It successfully organized a smaller version of the festival called Ardh Kumbh, or Half Kumbh, in 2019, when 240 million visitors were recorded, with about 50 million taking a ritual bath on the busiest day.
Planning for even larger numbers in 2025, the state government has formed the Maha Kumbh Mela area in Prayagraj into a separate administrative district for four months.
As the 2025 festival draws closer, construction of the temporary district is in full swing. Divided into 25 sections and spreading over 40 square kilometers (15 square miles), it will have housing, roads, electricity and water, communication towers and 11 hospitals.
Hundreds of workers and machines are crowding the river’s edge. Working around the clock, they are laying water and drainage pipes, building 30 pontoon bridges (up from 22 in 2019), and compacting sand dredged from the river to enlarge the banks along the 12-kilometer (7-mile) -long stretch where pilgrims will gather to bathe.
Scaffolding for tents, some of which will house as many as 25,000 pilgrims, is being erected.
About 20,000 workers are responsible for keeping the area and its more than 150,000 temporary toilets clean.
About 50,000 security personnel — a 50% increase from 2019 — are being trained in how to keep the festival safe.
“The mela can be a very stressful environment for the personnel, so we are teaching them stress management and training them in soft skills to interact better with the pilgrims,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Rajesh Diwedi, who is overseeing security operations.
More than 2,500 cameras, some powered by AI, will send crowd movement and density information to four central control rooms, where officials can quickly deploy personnel to avoid stampedes.
Many devotees will stay for more than a month, observing austerity, giving alms and bathing at sunrise every day.
