For a Hindu nationalist party like the BJP, the Maha Kumbh festival was the perfect stage to demonstrate Hindu credentials, with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh leader, where the festival took place) distributed everywhere.

Official predictions for Maha Kumbh attendance were 400 million, but authorities now claim close to 700 million people made the journey, a figure that would mean roughly one-in-two Indians (mathematically far-fetched) attended the pilgrimage.

A stampede at the Maha Kumbh on January 29 resulted in at least 30 deaths according to government claims, though other sources suggest the figure is much higher, and some observers have suggested the stampede was partly caused by large areas being cordoned off for elite access to the festival.

The Maha Kumbh, a Hindu festival held once every 12 years at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, is traditionally believed to cleanse sins through ritual bathing but has become dramatically more popular and fashionable among India's elite (actors, cricketers, business titans) in its 2025 edition compared to being historically perceived as crowded, dirty, and for poorer Indians only.

The Maha Kumbh festival has become both like a temple and a theme park, with some pilgrims dipping sanctly, others splashing around, and almost everyone recording things on phones, indicating how social media and secular entertainment values have transformed the religious experience.

Two primary factors explain the Maha Kumbh's increased popularity and prestige: first, economic growth has given more Indians wealth to spend on religious practice (more airline flights to Prayag, more people with cars enabling 1,200+ km pilgrimages); second, Hinduism has become 'cooler' through social media promotion and political positioning as a symbol of Indian patriotism.

According to a 2021 Pew Research survey, nearly two-thirds of Hindus said that being truly Indian meant being Hindu, demonstrating how Hindu nationalist ideology has conflated religious and national identity.

The water in which pilgrims take a dip at Maha Kumbh is very polluted, with regulators finding fecal matter in the river.

Despite the Maha Kumbh stampede tragedy, the BJP is doubling down on the event as a huge triumph, demonstrating political prioritization of narrative success over human cost.

Hinduism has become more culturally aspirational in India both through social media (with families making pilgrimages after seeing reels and videos) and through political framing by the ruling BJP, which has assumed the role of Hinduism's custodian by promoting Hindu causes as public policy priority.

The Maha Kumbh festival marks a once-in-12-years auspicious planetary alignment during which taking a dip at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers is believed in Hindu tradition to cleanse one's sins.

Economic growth in India has enabled more Indians to afford religious participation: many more people could travel to Prayagraj because major Indian airlines laid on special daily flights, and many people now own cars allowing them to drive to the festival, with one family driving 1,200 km to attend.

The Maha Kumbh provided a perfect political stage for the BJP to demonstrate Hindu credentials, with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh leader Yogi Adityanath appearing everywhere before and during the festival.

Officials initially predicted 400 million people would attend the Maha Kumbh, but now claim close to 700 million attended, meaning one in two Indians made the pilgrimage—a figure that is far-fetched and likely exaggerated.

The Maha Kumbh has traditionally been perceived as something only poorer Indians attend because it was deemed too crowded and dirty for the wealthy, but this latest edition was embraced by elite actors, cricketers, and business titans who stayed in luxury tents and some rode helicopters to witness festivities from the sky.

On January 29th a stampede occurred at the Maha Kumbh in which the government claims 30 people died but other sources suggest the figure is much higher, and some have suggested the stampede was partly caused by huge areas being cordoned off for elites to attend the festival.