Billboards of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi backlit the urban landscape high up in the elaborate areas of the Maha Kumbh Mela, Prayagraj, India. Life-size cutouts of the leader, looking high, greet millions of Hindu worshippers walking to the world’s largest religious festival. The 12 yr old festival is a spiritual occasion for the pilgrims in which they take holy dip in the sacred confluence of holy rivers, the Ganges and Yamuna, time and again associating it with the washing away of the sin and attainment of salvation.
This year’s Maha Kumbh Mela is particularly significant due to a rare celestial alignment last witnessed 144 years ago. But, e.g., for its religious significance, the event has now evolved into a major political and technological showpiece which embodies India’s progress under Modiji premiership.
Faith, Tradition, and the Political Spotlight
For Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Kumbh Mela is more than just a religious event—it’s a grand stage to highlight their governance. The festival, which needs huge urban planning, has now been redeveloped as an emblem of India’s achievements. The state government has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into infrastructure, including temporary roads, tents, sanitation facilities, and digital technology.
However, the political undertones of the festival became apparent after a tragic stampede that resulted in the deaths of 30 pilgrims and injured 90 others. Adityanath took nearly 15 hours to acknowledge the incident, while Modi maintained a careful distance, offering condolences but avoiding direct criticism.
Modi’s attendance at the Kumbh supports his image as elected political authority coupled with Hindu tradition protector. He is to take a holy dip at the confluence at the same day of regional elections to Delhi, thereby aligning media attention on his religiosity with the political event.
Marketing the Maha Kumbh: From Faith to a Global Spectacle
The Maha Kumbh has long been a religious pilgrimage led by Hindu monks, however in recent times the government have actively marketed it as a major tourist event. Digital billboards, advertising events and luxury hotels have turned the event into a tourist attraction.
Since taking over as chief minister, Adityanath has called the Kumbh the “Greatest Show on Earth,” distracting from its religious character and focusing instead on its economic significance. Luxury tent packages, Kumbh “experience” tours, and celebrity endorsements have added a commercial element, drawing criticism from traditionalists.
Narender Kumar Sahoo, a pilgrim from Madhya Pradesh, expressed his worries saying, “Politicians should do politics, and saints should engage in their religious activities.” A significant number of devotees perceive the spiritual essence of the festival to be undermined by political agendas while the commercial aspect is also invoked.
Technology and Artificial Intelligence at the Kumbh
This year’s Maha Kumbh, perhaps most striking of all, has been characterized by its highly technology. To support visitors in exploring the temporary city, the government of Uttar Pradesh has started deploying QR codes to share information about accommodation, food, and emergency services. Not only a special QR code can lead users to a page of government’s achievements, it also guides photos in a certain location to a page that shows how the government improved the location, from a dystopian to a utopian view.
Crowd movements have been monitored and congestion managed using AI. Facial recognition technology is being employed at lost-and-found stations to reunite lost people with their owners. AI-driven programmatically estimates the number of pilgrims to enter the water at each hour and controls crowd inflow to avoid throngs.
Despite these technological advancements, the system failed to prevent the recent stampede. Critics contend that, although AI may help with crowd control, it is an impractical endeavor on the scale of the festival to completely remove risk.
A Festival Beyond Politics and Technology
However for the thousands of pilgrims present at the Maha Kumbh, it is at its core, faith. Dharmendra Dubey, 28, a bank employee, walked countless miles to get to the holy waters. Despite the cold temperatures, he felt spiritually rejuvenated after taking a dip.
The Maha Kumbh remains a deeply significant event in Hinduism, but its increasing commercialization and political branding continue to spark debate. As India moves forward with its vision of modernization, balancing tradition, spirituality, and governance at events like the Kumbh will remain a complex challenge.
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