The "bowl festival", Kumbh Mela, in India makes other famous events such as the carnival in Rio and the Hajj in Saudi Arabia seem almost insignificant.
With its 1.5 million inhabitants, Prayagraj is not a megacity to be in India. But right now, the city is the world's largest in a class of its own. The ongoing Hindu high holiday, Kumbh Mela, is expected to attract up to half a billion participants – equivalent to every person in the entire EU – to the site for ritual baths.
Business is booming, for everyone and everywhere, in our city, says taxi driver Manoj Kumar to the news agency AFP.
Long days
The 37-year-old says he earns 22,000 rupees (around 2,700 kronor) per day – roughly eight times as much as usual.
This is some of the most intense, 18 to 20 hour long, working days of my life.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalists govern both India and the state of Uttar Pradesh, and have ensured that the boom is just as intense in a broader perspective.
We have new roads, bridges, extra flights and trains, new hotels and restaurants – and a demand for labor that cannot be measured, says Kumar.
Like Iceland
For Uttar Pradesh, there are estimates of total revenues of 2.1-2.6 trillion rupees (260-325 billion kronor). This means an economic effect of the six-week event equivalent to the annual GDP of a country. For example, Iceland and Georgia have a GDP of around 360 billion kronor each.
We see profits everywhere, from transportation to hotels, food and so on, says Devendra Pratap Singh at the Chamber of Commerce for the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to AFP.
Hotel room prices at finer hotels are skyrocketing in some cases to around 10,000 kronor per night. One explanation for this festival's unparalleled attractiveness is the planet Jupiter. It is only every 12th year that it stands so "right" as it does this year. Even if Kumbh Mela is held more frequently, it is extra large every 12th year.
Holy rivers
The name means roughly "the festival of the holy bowl", and the point is to bathe in the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati when the celestial bodies are in alignment. The original bowl in question, according to believers, contained the elixir of immortality. When it was taken to heaven by the goddess of beauty, Mohini, she spilled the elixir on four places, of which Prayagraj is one.
The attractiveness makes Kumbh Mela the world's largest gathering place. Almost 500 million people can be compared to the approximately 7 million who usually participate in the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, or the 2 million who come to Saudi Arabia's holy sites during the Muslim Hajj.
Hindu tradition when people gather to, among other things, bathe in holy water, a dip that is supposed to purify, give new energy and insight.
It is also a celebration of the gods' victory over demons according to an old legend with the god Vishnu in focus. During a power struggle between gods and demons, he took the form of the goddess of beauty, Mohini, and managed to get a bowl that contained the elixir of immortality. For 12 times 12 years, Mohini fought to bring the elixir to heaven and spread it among the gods so that they could defeat the demons.
These 12 times 12 years are now reflected in Kumbh Mela's calendar, where the celebration is extra large every 12th year, and even higher every 144th year.
The gatherings can be traced back to the 7th century. But it was not until around 1870 that the then British colonial government began to organize them in something like the current giant festivals.
The festival is held at different locations in India, but it is largest at the four places where Mohini is said to have spilled her elixir, of which Prayagraj is the most important.
This year's Kumbh Mela is taking place between January 13 and February 26.
Source: Indian media.
