India's Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering, by the numbers

India's Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering, by the numbers

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India's Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering, by the numbers
Author: Ashok Sharma
Published: Jan, 29 2025 11:20

Hindu devotees, mystics and holy men and women have gathered in India’s northern city of Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering. The festival — site of a stampede on Wednesday — is held every 12 years at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. Hindus take a series of ritual baths at the confluence to cleanse them of their past sins and free them from reincarnation.

Here’s a look at the festival by the numbers:. 400 million. The number of people expected in Prayagraj for the festival over the course of 45 days. 400 million people — more than the population of the United States — are expected to throng the festival. That is around 200 times the 2 million pilgrims who were in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage last year.

The festival started on Jan. 13 with tens of thousands of naked Hindu ascetics and millions of pilgrims taking dips in freezing water at the confluence of the sacred rivers. Nearly 150 million people have already attended, including Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

4,000 hectares. The total expanse of the pilgrimage site. A vast ground along the banks of the rivers has been converted into a sprawling tent city equipped with more than 3,000 kitchens and 150,000 toilets. Divided into 25 sections and spreading over 40 square kilometers (15 square miles), the tent city also has housing, roads, electricity and water, communication towers, and 11 hospitals.

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