The Mahakumbh 2025 drew millions of pilgrims to Prayagraj, setting a new record. But the festivities were marred by stampedes, road accidents, and environmental concerns, highlighting both the scale and challenges of India’s largest religious gathering. A report by Mudit Mathur
The 45-day religious and cultural festivities of the Mahakumbh concluded with the final royal bathing on Mahashivratri, 26 February. The event saw an overwhelming turnout, with more than 650 million pilgrims—about half of India’s population—gathering at the Sangam (the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati,). This year’s Kumbh Mela set a new record in terms of scale. The event remains unique in the world, where no invitation is needed yet millions gather to celebrate.
In 2025, the Mahakumbh also provided a platform for UP CM Yogi Adityanath to bolster his national profile, positioning him as a competitor to PM Modi’s popularity.
The festival, however, was marred by tragic incidents. On 29 January, a stampede occurred at the Mahakumbh site. Later, on 15 February, another stampede at New Delhi Railway Station claimed the lives of at least 18 people. The stampede occurred due to a surge of passengers heading to Prayagraj for the festival. Soon after the incident, the Ministry of Railways announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the deceased’s families, Rs 2.5 lakh for victims with grievous injuries and Rs 1 lakh for those with minor injuries. More than a dozen injured persons in the stampede were taken to treatment at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital in New Delhi.
According to Railways authorities, the incident occurred as a massive crowd gathered at platform no. 14, where the Prayagraj Express was stationed. Delays in the departures of Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani further exacerbated the congestion, leading to overcrowding at platforms 12, 13, and 14. Reports indicate that around 1,500 general tickets were sold, resulting in an overwhelming rush, particularly near platform no. 14 and the escalator at platform no. 1.
The Railway Protection Force’s report highlighted that a sense of anxiety and panic spread among the thousands of passengers after the Shivganga Express departed from Platform 12. This tension escalated further when an announcement indicated that the Kumbh Special train would now depart from Platform 16 instead of Platform 12, causing a large crowd to gather at the platforms.
In response, the Ministry of Railways has ordered a high-level investigation into the incident, and a two-member committee has been formed to look into the matter. Videos taken by passengers at the station show the overwhelming crowds on the platforms. Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, expressed his concern over the incident and stated that he is closely monitoring the situation.
Meanwhile, a division bench led by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela took notice of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Arth Vidhi. The PIL, in the aftermath of the tragic stampede, questioned the Indian Railways’ practice of selling more tickets than the seating capacity of the coaches. The bench raised concerns, asking, “If you fix the number of passengers to be accommodated in a coach, then why do you sell… why do the number of tickets sold exceed that number? That is a problem… Implementing such a simple measure could help avoid such situations.”
The Railways ministry has directed X (formerly Twitter) to remove 285 social media links containing videos of casualties from the February 15 New Delhi Railway Station stampede, marking one of its first major content enforcement actions since gaining direct takedown powers in December. The ministry, which cited “ethical norms” and the platform’s content policy, sent the notice on February 17, asking for action to be taken in 36 hours, according to people aware of the matter.
Many road accidents were reported from various parts of the country wherein pilgrims of Mahakumbh died and were injured. In and around Uttar Pradesh at least 31 people died and 45 injured in such accidents. These pilgrims were either coming from or going back to Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has dismissed concerns over the water quality at the Sangam during the ongoing Mahakumbh, calling reports of faecal bacteria contamination an attempt to defame the grand religious gathering (Sanatan). He declared the Sangam water safe for drinking and bathing, despite the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) pollution report testing high faecal bacteria levels in Prayagraj river water, surpassing bathing standards.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) summoned the Uttar Pradesh PCB (UPPCB) authorities for the non-compliance of directives regarding ‘serious water quality violation in Ganga and Yamuna at Prayagraj’ and allegedly filing a misleading lengthy old testing report of 12 January. The fact is that the NGT has repeated itself when it said that high levels of faecal and total coliform were found at various locations at the Mahakumbh, during a hearing on allegations that untreated sewage has been discharged into Ganga and Yamuna rivers in Prayagraj.
However, beyond the serious environmental issues, the stampede deaths, numerous road accidents resulting in casualties, damage to railway windows, and the congestion caused by massive crowds eager to take a holy dip, unprecedented surge of pilgrims point to a resurgence of Hindutva. Despite the challenges posed by overcrowded roads, severe traffic jams, and congested transport, the overwhelming influx of pilgrims in Prayagraj was undeterred.
The hardships faced by pilgrims are worth noting: many were caught in hours-long traffic jams, with no access to water or food for their children, and no toilet facilities for women. On the way, basic necessities were being sold at exorbitant prices, with apples priced at Rs 200 and bananas at Rs 100. Even water bottle rates were hiked to ten times than their usual cost. The unanticipated overcrowding exposed the failure of crowd management strategies, as authorities struggled to assess road traffic, venue capacity, and crowd behaviour.
Though there were long queues for free ‘Bhandaras’ organised by various industrial houses and some Akharas, the food was extremely costly in the shops. The exploitation of pilgrims was so rampant at a large scale that even a seller of ‘neem datoon’ (soft stem of Neem for brushing the teeth) made millions during this long festival exploiting pilgrims from India and abroad.
The traditional Kumbh Mela, recognised by UNESCO as an ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,’ remains the largest congregation of people in the world. This time, the government repackaged the Mahakumbh with an emphasis on promoting Hindutva unity, adopting a commercial approach aimed at turning it into a high-tech religious tourism event to generate significant revenue for the state exchequer.
Chief Minister Yogi is expecting that the event will bring more than Rs 3 lakh crore to the economy while the state has spent about Rs 75000 crore on organising it. The government is also focusing on other key symbolic locations tied to Hindutva mythology, such as Ayodhya, Mathura-Vrindavan, Kashi, Mirzapur, Naimisharanya, and Chitrakoot, to boost religious and cultural tourism through infrastructure development.
The government also targeted some other important symbolic places in the state associated with Hindutva mythology such as Ayodhya, Mathura––Vrindavan, Kashi, Mirzapur, Naimisharanya and Chitrakoot for infrastructural development promoting religious cultural tourism.
In the recently tabled budget, Chief Minister Adityanath announced an allocation of Rs 1,50 crore for tourism infrastructure in Ayodhya, Rs 1,00 crore for the Bankey Bihari corridor in Mathura-Vrindavan, and Rs 200 crore for the Vindhyavasini temple corridor connecting Kalikho and Ashtbhuji temples.
