MahaKumbh2025@Prayagraj: After a leisurely sattvik breakfast in their luxury tent, Pankaj Bakshi and his family set off on a private boat to the ‘VIP Sangam’ at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. Far from the packed riverbanks, where tens of thousands jostled for a holy dip, they had their own exclusive spot. The new coveted VIP Sangam was at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswasti, right in the middle of the stream.
The NRI family from Dubai took their holy dip far from the madding crowd. Welcome to Elite Kumbh. No stampeding devotees or police with lathis. This, their tour organiser assured them, was the “real Sangam”, and it came at a hefty tag of Rs 50,000 per person. It was Bakshi’s first Kumbh experience.
“We were apprehensive about the crowds. We had seen the crowded streets of Kumbh in reels, but we were not part of it. The facilities provided here—we never imagined it would be like this,” said Bakshi, who works for a financial consultancy in Dubai and had flown in just to experience the Maha Kumbh.
For decades, the Kumbh was seen as a congregation for the pious and the poor. But this time around, the privileged are getting a special place. The Uttar Pradesh administration has turned it from a rural, bottom-of-the-pyramid phenomenon into an elite experience, one that is prideful and matches the country’s mood. It’s a glamourised and rarefied experience for NRIs and high net worth Indians who want a slice of the Kumbh without the masses and mayhem. It’s as if the Four Seasons met the Kumbh on the Ganges. Even the stampede on 29 January, which killed at least 30 people, did not burst this bubble of exclusivity.
