The Maha Kumbh Mela at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, India happens once every 12 years with the next pilgrimage taking place in 2025.

Inside the tent encampment

Offerings at the Ganges

Local boatmen

Inside the tent encampments

Sadhus and pilgrims arrive before dawn

Little goddess and her mother

Begging for rice

Inside the Akharas, temple inside a tent

The pilgrims arrive

Dawn at the Sangam, devotion meets media frenzy

Garland on the bank of the Ganges

Naga Sadhu in bed of thorns with a vow to keep one arm raised

Rail bridge and pontoons across the Ganges

Rail bridge crosses the city with Coca Cola advertisements in Hindi and English

Pontoon bridges across the Ganges

Throughfares

Laughing Naga Sadhus

The big Baba of the Akharas

Getting high, smoking the chillum in the Akharas

Convening in the Akharas

Elephant recieves offering of money and passes it up to his owner

Hanging out, outside the Akharas

A little goddess

Offerings at the Ganges

Prayers at the Ganges

Pilgrim

Guru advertising billboard

Allahabad, situated at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers is complimented by the mythical Saraswati river to form one of the most sacred places in Hindu belief and philosophy. A dip at the intersection of rivers known as the Triveni Sangam is believed to purge sins and assist one on the path to Moksha (liberation).

A pop up megacity, as a research team from Harvard called it, the Kumbh Mela is well known for its spectacular gatherings of pilgrims and congregations of saints, seers, philosophers, gurus, preachers and disciples. An estimated 80 - 100 million people visit during the festival’s 6 week duration beginning in mid January with the most auspicious bathing days attracting more than 7 million bathers along the banks of the rivers.

Although most media attention focuses on the rituals at the Sangam ( the most sacred bathing area) the temporary settlement is over 12.5 sq miles and is one of the most complex event planning undertakings on earth with a transitory residency larger than the population of a European country with the supply of electricity, water, basic sanitation, food and a dedicated police force of 30,000. Temporary tents encampments form the core of the city with specific areas referred to as ‘Akharas’ housing the infamous Naga Sadhu contingent. This photoessay intends to show the broader context of the event beyond the media frenzy surrounding the acts of devotion at the Sangam, revealing the wider perspectives of acts of pilgrimage and life in the pop up megacity.