Mahakumbh 2023, celebrated as a monumental success in terms of attendance and business, left behind a trail of chaos and stampedes, exposing a stark divide between the elite and ordinary devotees.
The Maha Kumbh carnival is finally over. Many in the state government would breathe easy, playing down the deaths, the stampede and the crowds that got out of hand.
The Kumbh is a Hindu pilgrimage that dates back to thousands of years. This particular one, called the Mahakumbh, was significant given that it coincided with a rare celestial alignment or the Triveni Yog, which took place after 144 years.
The belief is that a dip in the confluence of the rivers at this point in time washes away sins and leads to salvation or moksha.
The Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest religious festival.
It is this that was turned into a jamboree between January 13 and February 26 this year: a jamboree like never before: “Unprecedented in world history”.
“Unforgettable” is what Yogi said at the culmination claiming that over 66 crore devotees attended Mahakumbh this year.
If reports are anything to go by, flower petals were showered on devotees on the last day of the ritual bath or Shahi Snan. The festivities concluded on Maha Shivaratri: the night dedicated to Lord Shiva.
The state Government is patting itself on the back and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath beaming that he had pulled it off, yet again.
Reeling off figures in the State Assembly, Yogi said that the investment of Rs 7500 crore had yielded a record Rs 3 lakh crore in business.
On this, Yogi is right. It was a great economic opportunity and a business that overtook faith. It was one that showcased VIPs, often giving a go-by to the real, hardcore devotees.
The VIPs were given a smooth ride all through. As against this, the poor walked 30-35 kilometers to reach the ghat for the holy dip.
To say that there was a clear divide between the VIPs and commoners is stating the obvious. For those who were exposed to plush arrangements could not stop singing paeans for Yogi and what a wonderful job he had done. For the rest, it was an exercise that had its pitfalls: a nightmare to put it simply.
It was actually a slugfest, if one can use the term, between industrialists, film stars and politicians versus the common man; one between red beacon cars and those on foot and one between those who could splurge versus those who had to count their pennies.
Though there were two different worlds, they did, in one sense, clash; the poor and ordinary devotees had to make way for high speeding cars carrying the rich and the influential. They were huddled together like cattle to allow a smooth passage for the entitled: the VIP in common parlance.
Having said that, one cannot take away from the Yogi-run state government the mammoth exercise it had undertaken and executed.
At one level it can be flagged a success given the sheer number of people who flocked to the city and also took the holy dip.
For the elite, it was more a fun trip but for the devotees it was a spiritual, once in a lifetime journey. Despite the hardship and challenges, those who made it had no regrets. Their date with the Gods, so to speak, was well worth the trouble.
But there were dark clouds: horror stories of mismanagement, uncontrollable crowds, stampedes and tents that caught fire more than once.
Even while the state government does not tire of reeling off mind boggling numbers of those who attended the Mahakumbh, it is on a weak wicket when it comes to counting the dead.
There is a gap between the official figures of those who died versus the actual number. The state government’s head count is 30 while the actual number of people who died is reportedly more than double.
Had it not been for that fatal announcement encouraging people to move towards the ghats in the middle of the night, the tragedy could well have been averted.
Take the so-called “mobility plan” a few days before January 28, when a stampede broke out at Sangam Ghat. The state administration had blocked as many as 28 pontoon bridges for VIP movement. This meant pushing hundreds and thousands of pilgrims into narrow roads. The bottleneck was keeping only one bridge open till noon for the unprecedented number of devotees waiting to take the holy dip.
That evening, loudspeakers blared that Mauni Amavasya, an auspicious date, had begun and therefore devotees should start moving towards the river. Many did but were overpowered by surging crowds which multiplied by the minute.
People were getting pushed around and falling down. Children were getting crushed; there were bruised bodies strewn around by the crowds.
Panic set in and religious chants were replaced by screams. Some climbed poles, others crushed those who had secured themselves a vantage point near the Ghat.
On record, 30 people are said to have died in the stampede. But the figures are estimated to be much higher: around 70, according to unofficial sources.
But what was heart wrenching was what a young woman said: “I am safe, but my mother has died.”
Pitch this against the insensitivity of self-styled godmen like Dhirendra Shastri, who say that “those who lost their lives in the stampede haven’t died, but have attained moksha”, or salvation.
Unofficial reports also say that there was more than one stampede.
There are two ways of looking at this: one that precious lives were lost; and two that when an event of such a scale and magnitude occurs, mishaps can happen.
Take for instance the tents that caught fire: either due to short circuit or gas cylinder explosions.
For record, in the first week of February, fire broke out in two separate areas gutting the tents. A dozen fire tenders were pressed into service.
In January too, 100 tents were gutted. Fire tenders apart, it took fire-fighting motorcycles and over two hours to bring the flames under control.
One will have to accept that this exercise was on a mammoth scale. It was also one dealing with frenzied crowds who, in the name of God, did get out of control.
For those who have lost their loved ones, there can be no reparation; for them the Mahakumbh of 2025 will remain a bitter memory: the wish we had never gone kind of an experience.
For the rest, it would be a mixed bag: the rich and the VIPs who would want a repeat, every year if they could help it; the commoners who rue their space being hijacked by the entitled and of course the corporates who made a killing through sales.
Therefore, while Yogi sits smug on grounds that he pulled it off, his critics continue to flag the dead with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee rechristening the Maha Kumbh as Mrityu Kumbh, a Kumbh that beckoned Death, so to speak.
