A place where emotions, prayers and devotions of millions of devotees are together. One such place is the Kumbh mela also known as Mahakumbh 2025. At the Triveni Sangam, three renowned Indian rivers—the Ganga, Yamuna, and the Saraswati—cross each other. Every time millions of devotees gather to join for this auspicious event.
Hindus believe that having a bath in the holy river will wash away their sins, purify their souls, and free them from the continuous cycle of birth and death. This is because salvation is the final goal of Hinduism. A myth says that gods and demons fought over a Kumbh (a pitcher) of nectar that came up when the ocean mixed. This is where the Kumbh Mela got its name. A few drops of the elixir of immortality fell in four cities during the battle: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik.
The Kumbh Mela happens every 12 years
There were 12 heavenly years of fighting, which is the same as 12 years on Earth. Because of this, the Kumbh Mela happens every 12 years in these towns. In between the full festivals, there is an Ardh Kumbh, which means “half” Kumbh. Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 is being held at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.
It will last for 45 days, from January 13, 2025, to February 26, 2025. More than 40 crore people are expected to come. Over 40 crore people are expected to attend, making the 45-day event the biggest gathering of people ever. Around 60 lakh people had taken a holy dip at the Sangam by 9.30 a.m. on the first day of Paush Purnima, which was a very auspicious day. Amar Snan, the first big Shahi Snan, is set to happen on Tuesday, Makar Sankranti.
The budget for MahaKumbh 2025
The budget for Maha Kumbh is estimated to be close to Rs 6,382 crore, while the event is anticipated to bring in Rs 25,000 crore for the state. The Uttar Pradesh administration, however, had previously stated that Maha Kumbh may produce at least Rs 2 lakh crore in the upcoming one and a half months. Awanish Kumar Awasthi, who is an advisor to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and used to work as an IAS officer, did some quick brainstorming to back up the claim. “The value of this financial activity might not be what it’s really worth.” This means that if every traveller spends Rs 8,000 on Mahakumbh, the total would be over Rs 3.2 lakh crore, looking at the footfall of the devotees, he said.
Mr. Vijay Anand, the Kumbh Mela Nodal Officer, said that the event will bring in over Rs. 25,000 crore for the government of Uttar Pradesh in the form of taxes, rent, and other fees. However, it is expected that there will be a lot more money between Rs 2 lakh crore and Rs 3 lakh crore.
A report from NDTV says that the event is expected to increase both nominal and real GDP by more than 1%.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) believes:- Mahakumbh 2025
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) believes that with these numbers Maha Kumbh will bring in trade worth about Rs 2 lakh crore. “There will be a lot of trade and economic activities during the Mahakumbh.” Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of CAIT, told ANI that this includes expenditure spent on food, religious things, hotels, guesthouses, temporary housing, healthcare, and other services.
Mahendra Kumar Goyal, President of the UP chapter of the Confederation of All India Traders, estimates that the event will bring in a total of Rs 25,000 crore. From this amount, Rs 5,000 crore will come from puja items, Rs 4,000 crore from dairy products, and Rs 800 crore from flowers. It is believed that the hospitality industry, especially luxury hotels, will bring in Rs 6,000 crore.
According to Alok Shukla, President of UP branch CII, he says that for local business it is an excellent chance as the Kumbh mela event will generate more profits as compared to a year worth of profits in these two months.
For the predicted tourists, Chaturvedi said, “We took the help and guidance from Allahabad University to maintain and assess on how to attract more tourists to the Kumbh mela by upgrading the infrastructure”. There are special passageways that can handle between 10,000 and 20,000 visitors at once. To make the event a huge success activities like water sports, floating docks and temple tourism have been added and continue to attract more visitors.
Aparajita Singh from Regional Tourism Department
Aparajita Singh from Regional Tourism Department has a view that “There was a need to improve the infrastructure of accommodations”. Now there are 100 homestays that are registered with us. In the city there are more than 7,000 sellers and out of them 2,000 sellers have been upgraded to accept the digital payments from everyone.
To enhance experience for the tourists, we have also hired 1,000 tour experts and added food courts. The Kumbh Mela moves every 12 years between four holy places in India: Ujjain, which is on the Shipra River; Haridwar, which is in Uttarakhand; Nashik, which is in Maharashtra; and Prayagraj, which is where the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati Rivers meet.
In Hinduism, the auspicious time is when certain events happen at certain times based on where the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter are in the sky. During the month-long event, lakhs of people dip in the river. People believe that these holy bathing practices, which are also called Shahi Snans or Amrit Snans, clean their souls and wash away their sins.
