The largest religious assembly in the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India, became fatal on Wednesday. Officials confirmed at least 30 deaths and 60 people who were injured in a rush on the greatest day of the festival.
It was expected that around 100 million people could be able to go to the banks of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna in one of the most sacred places for Hindu supporters on the banks of the rivers.
This is not the first time that a large religious meeting in the country has led to a tragedy.
Here is a closer look at the festival.
What is the Kumbh Mela?
India’s Maha – or Grand – Kumbh Mela is the largest religious assembly in the world. It is often referred to as the “Festival of Festivals” and a major event in the Hindu calendar.
The ceremony is old for centuries and is based on a story in Hindu mythology, in which gods and demons fought for a pitcher or kumbh that contained the nectar of immortality.
It attracts hundreds of millions of supporters, holy men, tourists and politicians who come together on the banks of the holiest rivers in Hinduism to bathe in waters that are considered sacred. Waste in the water is a means for pious Hindus to clean their sins.
The Kumbh Mela pilgrimage takes place every three years, but a Maha Kumbh appears every 12 years in Pragyaraj – a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which is considered particularly sacred because the rivers ganges and Yamuna meet there. It is also the end point for the mythical Saraswati flow, as described in old Holy writings.
Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival takes place every 12 years in the northern city of Prayagraj, since Hindus believe that bathing in holy rivers brings savings from the cycle of birth and death and the absolution of sins.
This year’s event applies due to a special heavenly orientation of the sun, the moon and Jupiter, which only takes place every 144 years.
For many Hindus, like the 27-year-old Rahul Singh, this year’s Maha Kumbh was not to be overlooked.
“My heart feels so happy to be here,” Singh told CBC News on Wednesday at the beginning of this week before the Stampede.
“I will never forget this day for the rest of my life,” said Singh, who drove more than 900 kilometers away 15 hours out of his city to take part in the festival for the first time.
The authorities have predicted that this year’s Maha Kumbh would destroy previous attendance files.
How big is it really?
The Kumbh Mela scale is amazing.
The Indian government has repeatedly announced that this year 400 million visitors – more than the population of the United States – to be expected in the 45 days of the festival, which began on January 13.
The hundreds of millions of Kumbh Mela participants in the shadows of other religious meetings, with the last in 2019 attracting around 240 million people. The Hajj pilgrimage of last year attracted 1.8 million people.
Officials in Prayagraj have set up 150,000 porta spotties and 175,000 tents as far as the eye.
Around 50,000 police officers and guards were used.
The Maha Kumbh is so massive that it can be seen from space this week when the American astronaut Don Pettit, who has a longer stay at the international space station, published photos on the Social Media platform X : “The largest human assembly in the world is well lit.”
The government of the US state of Uttar Pradesh has 1.1 billion US dollars for the establishment of the infrastructure in connection with the massive event and technology, which focus on safety and crowd management and the first “digital Maha Kumbh” Brandmarkt.
This technology comprised 2,750 CCTV cameras that were driven by artificial intelligence to analyze video material, calculate the size of the quantity and to draw your attention when people in a section of the festival site gives an increase in people.
What led to the fatal swarm of Wednesday?
Wednesday was the haunted day of the six -week religious meeting, the largest Shahi Snan – or holy bathing day – when followers, led by Hindu sacred men, called Naga SadhusImmerse yourself in the water, in the belief that it will clean your sins and clean your souls.
The government agencies had an estimated 100 million people on Wednesday. Earlier reports from the area showed that many of the bridges built around the rivers were very overloaded and the police started loudspeakers to lead pilgrims to shorten their time in the water.
In the early morning hours on Wednesday, millions of pilgrims came together on the river bank, many slept near the ghats or holy steps that led to Ganges to reserve a first -class place.
According to Indian officials, at least 30 people were killed and 60 injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Festival after a huge amount of barriers broke through and to bathe people with feet who were waiting to bathe in the holy rivers in India.
Witnesses described how the crowds suddenly stormed from several directions, and many push and push and trampled over others who fell.
Others said they had seen how barricades were pushed. A submissive, Renu Devi, told the AFP news agency that she was sitting near a barricade when a massive amount came to her.
“In the middle of the thrust and thrust, the entire crowd fell on me and trampled me when she moved forward,” said the 48-year-old. “When the crowd started, older people and women were put down, and nobody occurred to help.”
Officials said some tried to climb over police barricades to manage the crowd to get closer to the water.
What do government officials say about the Stampede?
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to recognize that there were deaths when he offered condolences on social media to the families who lost their relatives and described the tragedy as “extremely sad”.
But that came 10 hours after the plot of dozens of people trampled with feet, and it took many hours before the officials confirmed a death.
The Hindu assembly is important for the Indian government and has acquired a political rushes in the years since Modi and his Hindu nationalist party were elected for the first time, the new standard of Kumbh Mela was promoting more.
State officials said there was an investigation into events and compensation for families of the victims.
How often are Stampedes at India’s religious festivals?
It is not an unusual event for large religious meetings to end in India in deaths. At the last major Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013, 42 people were killed after they had arrived at the main train station, also on the most followed day of the festival this year.
In 1954 the tragedy also met in Kumbh Mela in one of the most deadliest India Stampedes, with at least 300 dead and more than 1,000 injured people.
In recent times, 121 people were killed in July 2024 and the more injured after a lot was violated in a Hindu religious meeting in Hathras, which is also in Uttar Pradesh. The victims were mainly women and children.
