Maha Kumbh Mela: What is the Hindu ‘Festival Festival’ that attracts millions in northern India?
The world’s largest religious gathering, Mah Kumbh Mela in northern India, became deadly on Wednesday, and officials confirmed at least 30 deaths and 60 people injured in Stamped on the biggest day of the festival.
About 100 million people were expected to get closer to one of the most holy places for Hindu devotees, on the shores of the Ganges and Yamun River.
This is not the first time that a great religious gathering in the country has led to tragedy.
Here’s a more close view of the festival.
What is Kumbh Mela?
Indian Maha – or Grand – Kumbh Mela is the largest religious gathering in the world. It is often called the “Festival Festival” and the main event in the Hindu calendar.
The ceremony of the century is old and is based on a story in Hindu mythology in which the gods and demons fought over the launch, or Kumbhu, which contained nectar immortality.
It attracts hundreds of millions of devotees, holy people, tourists and politicians, converging on the shores of the most holy rivers in Hinduism to bathe in the waters considered holy. The immersion in the water is a means of pious Hindus, to purify your sins.
The pilgrimage of Kumbh Mela is happening every three years, but Maha Kumbh happens every 12 years in Pragyai – the city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was considered especially holy because the rivers Ganges and Yamuna meet there. It is also the end point of the mythical River Saraswati, as described in ancient writings.
Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, takes place every 12 years in the northern town of Moyagraj, because Hindus believe that the buyer in the Holy Rivers brings salvation from the cycle of birth and death, and the absonation of sin.
This year’s event is considered even more favorable because of the special heavenly alignment of the sun, moon and Jupiter that occurs only every 144 years.
For many Hindus, such as 27-year-old Rahul Singha, this year’s Maha Kumbh Maha should not have missed.
“My heart feels so happy here,” Singh told CBC News earlier this week, before Wednesday to Stampede.
“I will never forget this day for the rest of my life,” said Singh, who drove 15 hours from his city more than 900 kilometers away to attend the festival for the first time.
Authorities predicted that this year’s Kumbh Maha Kumbh would break the previous records of visiting.
How big is it really?
The Kumbh Mele Scale is stunning.
The Indian government has repeatedly said that this year is expecting 400 million visitors – more than the population of the United States – during 45 days of the festival, which began on January 13th.
Hundreds of millions of students of Kumbh Mela fell with second religious gatherings, and the last in 2019 attracted about 240 million people. Last year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca was attracted to 1.8 million people.
Moyagraj officials have set up 150,000 ports and 175,000 tents as they can see, and 10,200 sanitary workers patrol the area covered by the equivalent of 7,500 football fields.
About 50,000 police officers and guards are distributed.
Maha Kumbh is so massive that one can see from the universe, a fact driven by home this week when US astronaut Don Pettit, who in an extended stay at the International Space Station, posted photos on the social media platform X, with the inscription: “The biggest human gathering on the world is well lit
The government government has spent $ 1.1 billion CDN on the installation of infrastructure around a huge event and on technology focused on safety and management of audiences, which is the first “Digital Maha Kumbh”.
This technology included 2,750 CCTV cameras launched by artificial intelligence for video analysis, calculating the size of the crowds and warnings of officials when there is a rush of people in one part of the festival terrain.
What led to a deadly demolition on Wednesday?
Wednesday was the most appropriate day of the six -week religious gathering, the largest Shahi Snan – or Holy Bathing Day – When are Bhakt, led by Hindu holy people called NaghusImmerse in the waters into the belief that they will purify their sins and purify their souls.
Government authorities estimated that about 100 million people would attend Wednesday. The earlier reports that were leaving the area showed that many bridges built around the rivers were very congested, and police used speakers to direct the pilgrims to shorten their time in the water.
In the early morning hours on Wednesday, millions of pilgrims brought together on the river bank, and many slept near Ghata or the Holy Steps leading to Ganges, to book the first place.
Indian officials say that at least 30 people were killed and 60 were injured in Stamped at the Maha Kumbh Festival after a great crowd broke through obstacles and pierced people waiting to bathe in Indian holy rivers.
Witnesses described how the crowds suddenly rose from several directions, and many pushed and pushed and pushed others who fell.
Others said they saw the barricades push. One Bhakt, Renu Devi, told AFP news agency that she was sitting near the barricade when she came to her who came a huge crowd.
“In the middle of pushing and pushing, the whole crowd fell on me, pulling me as she moved forward,” said the 48-year-old. “When the crowd grew up, the elderly and women were demolished and no one came to help.”
Officials said some tried to climb through police barricades set up to manage a multitude to bring the water closer.
What do government officials say about Stamped?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to admit that there were fatalities, when he sent condolences to families who lost his loved ones on social networks, calling the tragedy “extremely sad”.
But that came 10 hours after the crowd came into dozens of people, and it was long over the hours before the officials confirmed the number of deaths.
The Hindu gathering is important for the Indian government and has gained politically bent over the years since the first elected fashion and its Hindu nationalist party, with a higher major promotion of Kumbh Meli Nova Nova.
State officials said there would be an investigation into what happened and a victim family fee.
How common are stamps at Indian religious festivals?
It is not an unusual phenomenon that great religious gatherings end up in death in India. The last Major Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 was killed 42 people after arrived at the main railway station, also on the most appropriate and biggest day of the festival that year.
In 1954, the tragedy also hit Kumbh Mela in what was one of the most deadly Indian Žigos, with at least 300 people dead and more than 1,000 injured.
More recently, in July 2024, 121 people were killed and injured after collapsing in the crowd at a Hindu gathering in Hathras, which is also in Uttar Pradesh. The victims were mostly women and children.
