Planes, trains and roads: Crowds swell in season of Kumbh

Authorities at Maha Kumbh struggle to manage a massive surge of devotees in Prayagraj, urging delays in visits to Ayodhya as crowds overwhelm transport.

It is an event that organisers spend years to set up, given the sheer scale of visitors it attracts. But authorities at the Maha Kumbh are struggling to handle a rising tide of devotees inundating Prayagraj this week, leaving the mela grounds packed far beyond capacity and ensuring that systems put meticulously in place are stretched to the limit.

A Hindu devotee stands on top of a police check-post waving as he looks for his family members after taking a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers with the mythical, invisible Saraswati river, during the Maha Kumbh. (REUTERS)

The deluge ahead of the most auspicious day of the 45-day spectacle, Mauni Amavasya on Tuesday, has sent air and train fares zooming, and even spilled over across other religious towns, forcing authorities at the Ram Temple in faraway Ayodhya to issue appeals to people to defer their visits.

The administration at the Maha Kumbh, elated and inundated at the same time, admitted on Monday that matters were now out of their hands.

“We have done our best and the rest is in the hands of Maa Gange (the river goddess). We are humans and have put in place the best of arrangements possible for an expected record turnout of 80 million to 100 million for a single event in a single day. Now, the rest is up to Bade Hanumanji,” said Vivek Chaturvedi, additional district magistrate (Maha Kumbh).

Roughly 80 million people are likely to take the dip at the holy Sangam spot on Tuesday. This surge has left the grounds packed, the pontoon bridges groaning, and police struggling to keep queues and erect barricades.

The reverberations of the crowding are being felt even 160km away in Ayodhya.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Tuesday urged devotees to postpone their visits to Ayodhya for 15-20 days due to an unprecedented surge of pilgrims, which has brought the city to a standstill. Trust secretary Champat Rai appealed as the number of devotees visiting the temple town surged to an unprecedented five million over the last two days.

The influx coincides with pilgrims arriving from Prayagraj after participating in the Maha Kumbh. “The roads leading to Ayodhya are overwhelmed with traffic jams stretching over 20km. Managing this unexpected congregation has become exceedingly challenging for the administration, Rai said

“We urge local devotees to postpone their visit to Ayodhya by 15-20 days. This will provide a more convenient experience for pilgrims travelling from distant places during this peak period,” he added.

The rush of pilgrims has sent airfares through the roof. While the ticket costs for Delhi to Prayagraj flights have soared to ₹20,000 or more from ₹5,000, one seeking to fly in from Mumbai must shell out anywhere between ₹20,000 to ₹56,000.

The civil aviation ministry has urged airlines to add additional flights to meet the increased demand. Amid a surge in air fares, the civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu has also asked the ministry to ensure that airfares remain in check.

“The addition of these flights is expected to ease the pressure on airfares and improve overall accessibility for devotees and tourists,” a statement from the ministry read.

“To meet increased demand for air travel to Prayagraj during Mahakumbh, DGCA has approved 81 additional flights in January, raising Prayagra’sj connectivity via 132 flights from across India,” the government stated on Monday. Uttar Pradesh saw an immense rise in tourism with 33 crore visitors in 2024, and hosting 100 billion visitors as of 23rd January, 2025 for Mahakumbh,” Rikant Pittie, CEO & co-founder of EaseMyTrip said.

Trains, too, are running full.

The Indian Railway, by running more than 300 trains for the day, expects to cater to approximately one million passengers in one day.

Around 13,500 trains are being operated in the Prayagraj area until the Mahakumbh 2025 ends. Out of these, around 10,000 trains are regular and 3,500 are Mela Specials.

“There will be a train to or from Prayagraj every four minutes,” Satish Kumar, chairman and CEO of the Railway Board said.

There are multiple security challenges as well.

More than 30,000 police personnel from 70 districts have been deployed to keep track of tens of millions of people, with the help of 2,700 AI-powered cameras. In a first, underwater drones aided by 25 marine commandoes from Vizag are providing real-time surveillance, especially when millions of devotees are thronging the 48 ghats on a 12-km stretch to take the holy dip at Sangam.

A total of 102 checkpoints, manned by 1,100 police personnel, have also been set up in the Mela area.

Yet, there is agreement that only divine intervention can help in controlling the surge.

Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad president Mahant Ravindra Puri said, “Arrangements are fine, but the Mela runs on faith. Such a crowd has never been witnessed in the Mela... but Maa Gange will take care of everything.”