DC Edit | Maha Kumbh, for believers, keeps faith, traditions alive

The phenomenon of spirituality exists, and however tangible or intangible the concept is, it has its votaries in millions, and it is growing, especially in India. It is the promise of a dip in the holy waters to cleanse the sins and reach out for the release promised from a cycle of rebirths that drives 40 crore people to descend on the Sangam, making the statistics of the gathering itself so mind-boggling — a tent city with a spread of 40 sq km to house 23,000 kitchens, 1,50,000 restrooms, 11 hospitals, 100s of ambulances, 50,000 security personnel, manning 2,700 cameras AI-powered to spot stress points in crowds, from 4 central control rooms, watching over 11 akharas with thousands of sadhus and saints bathing at dawn even as underwater drones help observe it all with an eye on safety. Stupendous as the effort is of millions to get to Prayagraj for the once-in-12 years Maha Kumbh, the responsibility of its smooth progress becomes an onerous one for the state. It is another matter that the dominant force in today’s national politics would like to use the monumentality of the Maha Kumbh’s cultural message to project and promote its belief in Hindu nationalism. Considering that rulers have come and gone or paled into insignificance even as a spiritual gathering that dates back several centuries has gathered momentum over the years in Indian society, any attaching of more than a regular religious significance may mean very little.