Mahakumbh 2025

Date: 01/02/2025
Time: 1000 hrs

Kalpwasis: over 10 lakhs
Pilgrims visited: 79.75 lakhs
Total snan today until now: over 89.75 lakhs

Total snan till 31/01/2025
More than 31.46 crore

The Real Participants of the Maha Kumbh are People Like Ramesh

About 300 kilometers from Lucknow, in my village Sonicha in the Bansgaon Tehsil of Gorakhpur, Ramesh calls me. He talks about the fertilizer, water for farming, and the labor costs involved. Then, hesitantly, he says, “I need to go to Prayagraj, for the Maha Kumbh, to bathe. Please send me something, apart from the fertilizer and labor.” I ask, “How much?” He replies, “A thousand rupees will be enough.”

Ramesh is just a symbol. There are millions of people like him. They don’t have reservations in any train, nor have they booked any transport. They don’t even know where they will stay at the Maha Kumbh. These people are not worried about food either. They carry just enough snacks with them. This isn’t always possible, though, because beyond the fare, they don’t have much money.

These millions of devotees have faith in Mother Ganga and trust in Baba’s arrangements. What they have is faith and the determination to fulfill it, a passion and zeal. They know they have to go to the Maha Kumbh, as Ganga Maiya is calling them. If she is calling, then she will take care of the rest, and she will take care of it well.

The true participants of the Maha Kumbh are people like Ramesh. Around 10 lakh “Kalpvasis” (those living in spiritual contemplation) take a dip at the confluence or in the Ganga early in the morning, spend the day chanting and meditating, and in the evening, participate in satsangs and spiritual discourses at various saints’ camps or akhadas. These people, like Ramesh, and those doing Kalpvas, are the real pilgrims. This includes the akhadas and camps of different religious sects.

These akhadas and camps continuously conduct discourses on religion, spirituality, yoga, and other subjects. The chanting of mantras fills the atmosphere with energy.

The True Maha Kumbh is That of Ramayan, the Barber, Whose Words Captured My Heart
The real Maha Kumbh is the one represented by Ramayan, a barber who sets up a small permanent shop at a corner of the road leading from Sector 4 to Sangam Nauj. A boy, wearing dirty clothes, comes to him. His hair is matted and unkempt, and he wants to get a haircut, but he has no money. Ramayan says, “Come here, wash your hair with shampoo, and I will cut it for free. Your hair is too tangled for my comb or scissors to work.” Ramayan won my heart with this. I asked him why he was offering a free haircut when the boy might have money. He replied, “Ganga Maiya is giving freely, abundantly, even without asking. Just today, I shaved a child’s head, and received 500 rupees out of devotion.” He also mentioned that Yogi Ji’s administration is number one, and no one troubles him. He didn’t have to pay anyone.

The Kindness of a Bus Conductor and the Unnamed Youth Who Helped a Senior Woman
On the bus I was traveling in, there was an elderly woman who had missed her reserved bus. She had limited money. If she paid for the ticket to Lucknow, she might face difficulties for the onward journey to Hardoi. The bus conductor, who was sensitive to her situation, was thinking that if the elderly lady used the money she had for a ticket to Lucknow, she would face difficulties in continuing her journey to Hardoi. Hearing this, a gentleman sitting in front of her said, “I will pay for her ticket. Mother, travel with me till Hardoi, don’t worry, there won’t be any problem.”

The Maha Kumbh is not just for the few visible people. Both the show-offs and those who want to be seen gain immediate benefits. One may go viral, and the other gets more viewers. Therefore, their focus is on a few individuals.

But the true Maha Kumbh is not just that. The real participants are people like Ramesh, Ramayan, the bus conductor, and the anonymous young man who paid the fare and even dropped the elderly woman to her destination. These are the people with clear hearts and pure minds. This is the true beauty of the greatest gathering of humanity. Thanks to these people and the great sages and scholars who have been spreading the sacred knowledge, the Maha Kumbh of Prayagraj has been known since ancient times. None of them has any complaints about the arrangements. On the contrary, they are all praising the system.