The claim is staggering: 450 million people will have visited Prayagraj for the Kumbh Mela over 45 holy days. This would mean that roughly 35% of India’s population, or half of our adult population, was in one place within just six weeks. Statistically, every other person you know, whether a friend, relative, or stranger on the street, must either have already been there or is planning to go in the coming days.
Let us take this number apart.
India expects around 5 million foreign tourists in the first half of 2025. Even if every single one of them attends the Kumbh Mela (which is highly improbable), the remaining 445 million people must be Indian citizens. This can be verified easily through train and flight ticket sales, hotel occupancy data, or mobile tower records from Prayagraj. These are measurable, tangible metrics.
Now, imagine what 450 million people moving across the country over 45 days would look like. Roads everywhere else would be clearer. Public transport across India would be emptier. Markets would see a noticeable drop in footfall. The economy in other regions would likely feel the strain of reduced activity. Thanos would be proud!
But that is not what we see.
In fact, 450 million is more than the populations of Madhya Pradesh (72 million), Maharashtra (125 million), Karnataka (61 million), Kerala (35 million), Tamil Nadu (72 million), Andhra Pradesh (38 million), and Telangana (39 million). Combined. Imagine if the entire south and central India, along with Maharashtra and half of Gujarat, were to be present in 365 square km in a span of 45 days.
I have not been to the Kumbh Mela personally, but this number feels implausible. It stretches the limits of believability to the point of snapping. What about you?
Now, here is my issue with this: the Kumbh Mela does not need exaggerated numbers to be impressive.
It is, by any measure, an awe-inspiring event. A logistical miracle. A spiritual phenomenon that has no parallel anywhere in the world. It is a showcase of the best that India has to offer—a unique convergence of faith, culture, tradition, and commerce. It is already extraordinary.
So why inflate its numbers?
Why diminish its authenticity by making claims so grandiose that they invite scepticism? Why take something inherently spectacular and undermine it with unnecessary hyperbole?
When we exaggerate, we devalue. When we overstate, we trivialise the monumental effort it takes to organise an event of this magnitude. We do a disservice to the millions of faithful who attend, to the thousands who work tirelessly to make it happen, and to the cultural and spiritual heritage it represents.
Indian culture does not need embellishment.
Our history is vast. Our achievements are profound. Our contributions to art, science, and philosophy are unparalleled. We gave the world zero, the Taj Mahal, Ajantha, the Meenakshi temple, the Vedas, and the Constitution of Ambedkar. We are the land of Kalidasa and Tagore, of Jainism and Buddhism, of Carnatic music and ghazals, item numbers and raag Malhaar, Sikh langars and Kohinoors, Chanakya and Tukaram, Savitribai and Rani Laxmibai, Gandhi and Bhagat Singh. We have sheltered the persecuted and inspired the curious. Ours is a civilisation so layered and multifaceted that no visitor, past or present, has ever fully captured its essence.
So why do we feel the need to silver-plate gold? To gild the lily? What is this compulsive need to exaggerate what is already awesome?
India is extraordinary, not because of what we pretend to be, but because of what we are. To exaggerate is to doubt our own greatness. To inflate is to undermine the very truths that make us remarkable.
As someone who frequently questions his own patriotism, let me end with this: India’s beauty lies in its reality, not its embellishments.
The Kumbh Mela is already a living testament to the soul of this nation. It does not need inflated numbers to shine. It is time we celebrated our culture and history as they are—immeasurable, profound, and genuinely awe-inspiring.
Because when we silver-plate gold, we fail to see the value of the gold itself.
And India’s true value is beyond measure.
