Mahakumbh 2025: Several feared killed, injured in the Mauni Amavasya stampede
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A deadly crowd crush because of a stampede during the ongoing Mahakumbh 2025 at Prayagraj, UP, is feared to have caused the deaths of several people and injuries to many, as the swelling mob broke through the barricades to take the holy bath at the confluence of the three rivers early on Wednesday on Mauni Amavasya, considered the holiest of the holy occasion during this festival.
The UP Government, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, had anticipated about 10 crore pilgrims taking baths on Wednesday and made adequate arrangements for the world’s largest religious festival. In the 45-day-long Mahakumbh religious congregation (January 14 to February 26, 2025), once in 144 years, nearly 45 crore pilgrims are expected to take the holy dip.
Until Wednesday, barring a couple of fire incidents, no untoward incidents were reported.
However, after the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, several pilgrims tried to rush to the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati Rivers at the Sangam Nose.
This may have caused a stampede. No official figures of casualties were available until evening, although unconfirmed reports speculated the death of 10 to 40 people and injuries to many more.
Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday morning that the crush occurred after some pilgrims rushed to participate in an early morning bathing ritual, jumping over barricades aimed at controlling crowds during the event, the media reported.
He said about 3 crore people had taken the holy dip by 8 am on Wednesday and the Amrit Snan of the Akharas, suspended for a few hours, was resumed around 8.30 am, according to the media reports.
The festival, a confluence of spirituality and astrology, is celebrated in a 12-year cycle at four sacred sites. There are six auspicious days within the six weeks, but the four most important, according to the Hindu calendar this year, are January 14, January 29, February 3, and February 26.
Devotees believe that taking a holy dip in Prayagraj, where three rivers considered sacred in Hinduism – the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati – meet, will absolve them of sins and liberate them from the cycle of life and death.
By rotation, the ceremony is held every four years in the cities of Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), and Nashik (Maharashtra). For the ongoing event, Prayagraj has built a massive tent city with electricity, water, 3,000 kitchens, and 11 hospitals to accommodate visitors. Besides, most Akharas have created facilities for the pilgrims.
Police installed around 2,800 CCTV cameras on the festival site and roads, which are meant to alert staff if the crowds become so large that they pose a safety threat. A heavy security detail, comprising about one lakh policemen and allied forces, and drones kept the watch round-the-clock at the site, where several national and international celebrities are also regularly visiting.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, among others, have taken dips in the Ganges in recent days. Indian billionaire and founder of the Adani Group, Gautam Adani, also attended it, and so did Apple chief late Steve Jobs’s wife Laurene Powell Jobs.
According to local media, Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, and his girlfriend, actress Dakota Johnson, are also visiting the Mahakumbh Mela.
On Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that the accident was “extremely sad”.
“My deepest condolences to the devotees who have lost their loved ones in this. Along with this, I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured. The local administration is engaged in helping the victims in every possible way,” he wrote.
Local officials said paramilitary forces had been deployed to control the situation, and rescue efforts were underway.
In 2013, the last time the festival was hosted in Prayagraj, at least 36 people were killed in a crowd crush at a railway station. That same year, at least 115 people were killed in a crush at the Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh after a bridge collapsed.
In 2008, 145 people died after a panicked crowd pushed people over a ravine near the Himalayan temple of Naina Devi.
