3 weeks ago
11
Asia Pacific|The World’s Largest Human Gathering Begins in India
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/world/asia/india-hindu-festival-maha-kumbh-mela.html
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
About 400 million Hindu pilgrims from around the globe are expected to bathe in and around the Ganges in the religion’s biggest display of unity.
Jan. 14, 2025Updated 8:15 a.m. ET
Millions of Hindus are convening this week in what is expected to be the world’s largest human gathering, where a staggering number of devotees, tourists, politicians and celebrities take sacred dips at the convergence of two holy rivers in India.
The religious festival, called the Maha Kumbh Mela, happens every 12 years on the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj. Officials this year expect up to 400 million people — more than the population of the United States — to visit the site in Uttar Pradesh State over the next six weeks.
A major display of Hinduism, the event has recently become an important political event with the rise of Hindu nationalism, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing political party. It is also a massive logistical undertaking for government officials working to prevent incidents like stampedes and the spread of diseases.
What is the Maha Kumbh Mela?
The Maha Kumbh Mela, or “great festival of the sacred pitcher,” is the world’s largest religious ceremony. Based on a Hindu legend in which demons and gods fight over a pitcher carrying the nectar of immortality, the centuries-old ceremony centers on a series of holy baths, which Hindus say purify their sins.
Image
The holy baths are preceded by processions involving people singing and dancing in vibrant attire, in ornately decorated chariots and wielding ceremonial spears, tridents and swords. To participate, people travel from all over India and the world to the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, a sacred site that is also said to be the end point of a mythical third river, the Saraswati.
