Nath Bhawna Puri is one of 400 million people preparing to take part in the massive Hindu festival, the Maha Kumbh Mela.
As the spiritual leader of her Melbourne-based Hindu temple, Bhawna is guiding a small group of disciples from Australia to the North Indian city of Prayagraj later this month.
She said it will be a one-of-its-kind experience.
The mega spiritual festival, held every 12 years, attracts millions of devotees who gather to bathe at the sacred Triveni Sangam, where the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers converge. Source: SIPA USA / Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times/Sipa USA
Bhawna is a member of the Niranjani Akhara, a Hindu religious order to which thousands of ascetics are affiliated. The order hosted late Apple founder Steve jobs’ wife Laurence Powell at the festival this week.
Currently underway in Prayagraj in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the festival is expected to attract millions of devout Hindu pilgrims like Bhawna from across the world over six weeks to bathe together in sacred rivers and learn from spiritual gurus.
The expected attendance this year is nearly 15 times Australia’s population and over two times the number of Muslim pilgrims who performed the annual Islamic pilgrimage, the Haj, in 2023 (1.8 million).
“You can experience the divine powers in person, you can experience the divine powers by your naked eyes,” Bhawna said.
Seers and saints take a holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers. Source: SIPA USA / Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times/Sipa USA.
Attending the festival is an opportunity many will never get to experience.
“We are lucky because I think our next few generations can’t see this event as it happens every 144 years,” she added.
“From my entire family, I’m the only one who gets this chance to see the Kumbh [Mela] with my eyes.”
“I’m the chosen one.”
Women ascetics take a holy dip at the Maha Kumbh Mela on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on 14 January at Prayagraj. Source: SIPA USA / Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times
Rooted in Hindu tradition
The Maha Kumbh Mela, which began on 13 January and will conclude on 26 February, is centred around the confluence of three rivers, called the Sangam, which meet in the city of Prayagraj.
The festival originates in the Hindu belief that the god Vishnu, known as the ‘preserver’, wrested away from demons a golden pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.
The word ‘kumbh’ means pitcher in Sanskrit while ‘mela’ means carnival or fair.
According to the tradition, during a 12-day celestial fight for its possession, four drops of the nectar fell to the earth, in the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, where the festival is held in rotation.
This festival is celebrated in four cycles at intervals of four, six and 12 years. When the 12-year cycle is celebrated for the 12th time, the festival assumes a greater significance and is therefore called the Maha (great) Kumbh Mela.
In 2017, UNESCO placed the Kumbh Mela on its listing of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
A group of naked holy men called ‘Naga Sadhus’ arrive at the Maha Kumbh Mela on 14 January. These men, affiliated to Hindu religious orders, practice extreme austerity and shun everything they consider worldly, even clothing. Source: ABACA / Indranil Aditya/Middle East Images
Mega festival, mega logistics
According to media reports, the local government has spent $1.3 billion to organise the festival.
A makeshift city spanning nearly 10,000 acres comprising over 150,000 tents, more than 100,000 bathrooms and kitchens has been set up, with 15,000 sanitation workers employed to keep the site clean.
Around 69,000 LED and solar lights have been installed to illuminate the event, which is said to be visible from space.
The temporary tent city at the Maha Kumbh Mela at Sangam, Prayagraj. Source: EPA / Rajat Gupta / EPA
Sacred waters
Millions have already bathed in the waters where the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
Hindus believe that bathing in these sacred waters absolves people of their sins and that, during the Kumbh Mela, it also grants salvation from the cycle of life and death.
A young man worshipping at the Sangam, at the start of the Kumbh Mela. Source: SIPA USA / Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times
Crowd crush incidents
A gathering of this magnitude is not without risks and many fatal crowd-crush tragedies have previously occurred.
In 1954, between 350 and 800 people died in Prayagraj — reportedly one of India’s worst crowd-crush incidents.
In 2013 around 40 people lost their lives at a railway station during the festival.
And in July 2024, 116 people are estimated to have died in another crowd crush during a religious sermon at Hathras, some 500km from Prayagraj.
This year, Indian authorities are taking extra care to mitigate the risk of a crowd crush.
Around 40,000 police have been deployed to maintain security, along with upgrades to wifi and thousands of CCTV cameras which will be AI-monitored according to local media reports.
Local police have been quoted by Indian media as saying that “face-level cameras have been placed strategically to help prevent stampedes, by sending real-time notifications to officials on crowd build-up and sudden mass surges”.
Authorities are using CCTV cameras and drones to monitor the festival area, along with anti-drone craft to find and remove unauthorised drones.
Underwater drones that can operate at a depth of 3,330 feet equipped with advanced technology to function in low-light conditions have also been deployed.
Tents have been fitted with fire-fighting equipment and over 350 firefighting vehicles with 2,000 trained personnel are on hand to stamp out any fires.
A mounted police officer is keeping an eye on the crowd during Kumbh Mela. Source: SIPA USA / Hindustan Times
But Bhawna isn’t worried about the crowds and believes her faith will keep her and her disciples safe.
“The faith is too strong, too high. I know me, my disciples and all other people and the public who’re going there will be safe,” he said.
“We know that we are surrounded by the gods. We know that we are surrounded by positivity. We know that we are surrounded by all the auspicious aura there.”
With additional reporting by Reuters.
