Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday described the Mahakumbh 2025 as a “mahayagya of unity,” which would take the country’s cultural and spiritual identity to new heights, emphasising the event’s role in promoting social cohesion as well as economic empowerment of communities.
It is an event where every kind of discrimination is sacrificed and every Indian who takes a dip in the holy confluence here represents a beautiful picture of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshta Bharat’, he said, addressing a public gathering in Prayagraj after inaugurating 167 development projects worth ₹5,500 crore.
The projects also included Sah’AI’yak Chatbot -- an Artificial Intelligence-based platform to streamline communication for devotees attending the Mahakumbh.
This was the first time that Artificial Intelligence was being used to conduct a smooth and safe digital Mahakumbh, he noted.
Modi said the city of Prayagraj, which hosts the Mahakumbh, is not just a geographical location, but a place for spiritual experience where the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers plays a pivotal role in uniting people from all walks of life.
“The Maha Kumbh is a mahayagya of unity,” Modi said. “It will take the country’s cultural and spiritual identity to new heights.”
{{/usCountry}}“The Maha Kumbh is a mahayagya of unity,” Modi said. “It will take the country’s cultural and spiritual identity to new heights.”
{{/usCountry}}“In the last Kumbh, I had the good fortune of taking a bath at the Sangam and today, once again, I received blessings at the feet of the Ganga,” he added.
He expressed gratitude towards the employees, workers and sanitation staff for working hard and with dedication to make Mahakumbh-2025 a grand success.
The prime minister recalled his personal experience of washing the feet of sanitation workers in 2019, which he described as a memorable moment of his life.
More than 15,000 sanitation workers will ensure the cleanliness of the Mahakumbh this time, he added.
Referring to the mammoth scale of the Mahakumbh, the prime minister said that it was one of the largest gatherings in the world where hundreds of thousands of devotees arrived daily for the mahayagya lasting 45 days and a whole new city was set up for the fair.
The prime minister emphasised the historical importance of the event, saying saints and sages have, for centuries, used it as a platform to discuss national issues and provide valuable guidance.
He said even in ancient times, the Kumbh laid the foundation for social change.
He took a dig at previous governments for not paying heed to problems of devotees or caring for the importance of the Kumbh Mela primarily due to lack of connect with India’s culture and faith.
“During previous governments, the importance of Kumbh was not recognised. The devotees kept facing problems at such events, but the governments of the day did not care. The reason for this was their disassociation from Indian culture,” the prime minister said.
“But today but there is a government at the Centre as well as in the state which respect faith and Indian culture.”
Considering it their responsibility to provide facilities for pilgrims attending the Mahakumbh, he said governments at both the Centre and the state had now allocated thousands of crores for various projects.
Modi also spoke about Mahakumbh’s potential in empowering communities economically.
“Kumbh not only gives social strength but also provides economic empowerment of the people,” he said.
He said over 6,000 boatmen, thousands of shopkeepers, and those assisting with religious rituals and holy dips will see an increase in their work, which would create numerous employment opportunities.
About his darshan and pooja earlier in the day at Hanuman Mandir and Akshayvat, he spoke about the development of Hanuman Corridor and Akshayvat Corridor for easy access by devotees, besides mentioning the redevelopment project of Saraswati Koop.
Those present at the event included chief minister Yogi Adityanath, governor Anandiben Patel, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. The others present included Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, UP BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary, tourism minister Jaiveer Singh, industrial development minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, khadi and village industries minister Rakesh Sachan, energy minister Arvind Kumar Sharma, fisheries minister Sanjay Nishad, transport minister Dayashankar Singh, Prayagraj mayor Ganesh Kesarwani, district panchayat president VK Singh, MLA Siddharth Nath Singh and other public representatives.
The Mahakumbh 2025 will be held from January 13 (Paush Poornima) to February 26 (Maha Shivratri) at Prayagraj. It will be the world’s largest religious gathering and more than 40 crore (400 million) people are expected during the event.