“I have never seen so many people in my city,” beams Ravikrishna Tiwari.
Ravikrishna runs Tiwari and Bros, a travel agency that his grandfather started in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) way back in 1962. Till late 2024, he had 35 people working for him, mostly drivers and cleaners. Spotting the business opportunities that the Mahakumbh offered, Ravikrishna gathered 150 drivers and support staff just a few months before the spiritual event. He says he has made “more than 10 lakh rupees” in the last 45 days alone.
“Even MPs and VIPs have booked their vehicles through my agency,” he says, proudly, “I have been in Prayagraj all my life, but have never seen something like the Mahakumbh.”
This event, a religious extravaganza, concludes with Mahashivratri at Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. Over 50 crore people reportedly took a dip at the Triveni Sangam, from across India and abroad.
From celebrities — like Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal, whose Chhaavareleased recently — to working-class Indians — like the Mumbai couple who travelled 1, 200 kilometres on a bike to reach Prayagraj — everyone has or knows a person with a Mahakumbh story. With thousands of personnel from the tourism and hospitality industry catering to them, this spectacle has given an impetus to a burgeoning travel sector: spiritual tourism.
Singer Shweta Mohan at Mahakumbh at Prayagraj
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
All roads led to Prayagraj
In February, Lakshminarayanan R took a special SpiceJet flight from Chennai to Prayagraj and back — a round trip that cost him around ₹41,000. He had to walk more than three hours to reach the Sangam area, but the media professional affirms that “it was all worth it”.
Like him, popular singer Shweta Mohan too was at Prayagraj, but as a performer. Invited by the Ministry of Culture, Shweta presented fusion bhakti sangeet, an experience she recalls as “soul satisfying”. “To be invited to be part of such a significant event was a blessing. I wanted this to be a tribute to the Almighty who has blessed us with the talent of making people happy through music. Just watching the Ganga river in all its glory was unforgettable,” she says, of her experience.
Shweta’s trip was planned and on invitation, but there were several thousands from across India and even abroad, who put together quick itineraries after seeing the buzz on social media. “The last 45 days has been exceptional. I have never seen such demand in my 35 years of working in the hospitality industry,” says Ashish Vohra, founder and CEO, Justa Hotels and Resorts. He is referring to the overwhelming number of phone calls his call-centre professionals received for his jüSTa Shivir Jhusi, an 18-acre property on the banks of the Ganga that had 118 tents. “We got more than 500 calls every day, with enquiries from various parts of the country. People were keen on getting their tent accommodation confirmed rather than negotiating rates. They were also flexible on changing dates. . A lot of them were actually booking hotels or tents before planning their travel.”
There have been some challenges — such as the stampede that reportedly resulted in the death of devotees and news of the river water being contaminated — but that did not deter people from wanting to experience the Mahakumbh, according to locals. “People kept coming. We recently had a group that arrived by private aircraft from London,” adds Ashish, who also ran about 10 boats from his property at Jhusi, carrying about 10 people each at a cost of ₹3,000 each, to directly access the Triveni Sangam, thus bypassing crowds.
A prayer for the journey
Mahakumbh signals the growth of spiritual tourism in India. It is expected that by 2030, more than one hundred million people will be gainfully employed through temporary and permanent jobs driven by India’s spiritual tourism alone, which is anticipated to be worth around $59 billion by 2028.
Catering to this are several online players, like MakeMyTrip, in which searches for religious destination surged by 46% in 2024 as compared to 2022. Pilgrimage destinations also accounted for over 10% of MakeMyTrip’s total room night bookings in Q3 FY25, thus encouraging them to launch a special offering, Loved by Devotees, a curated collection of 450-plus hotels and homestays across leading spiritual destinations, including Ayodhya, Dwarka and Guruvayur, among others.
Naga Sadhus arrive to take a dip at Triveni Sangam at Mahakumbh in Prayagraj
| Photo Credit:
ANI
Come March, the focus for prospective travellers shifts from Prayagraj to the Char Dam Yatra, a pilgrimage circuit in Uttarakhand that takes people through Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. Explains Preeti Satyanarayana of EaseMyTrip, “It is a short period from May to October, for which bookings start from March. We anticipate the excitement among spiritual tourists being high for this circuit,” says Preeti.
Enquiries for travel to places such as Tirupati, Mahakal (Ujjain) and the 12 jyotirlingas of Shiva go on through the year. “Earlier, only senior citizens would think about religious trips. But now, even the youth, corporates and NRIs are interested. During the Mahakumbh, we saw high booking activity from young travellers in the 30-35 age group. Many guests also reached out to us to know the right way of performing rituals. Someone from Chennai might be aware of temples in Kumbakonam and Madurai, but a person from North India and abroad might not know its significance,” adds Preeti.
The same could be said of places like Katra in Jammu and Kashmir. Located at the foot of the Trikuta mountains, Katra is the base for pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi Temple, apart from being close to other religious attractions such as the Krimchi temples. Other places of significance too are attracting attention. Adds Preeti, “We are also planning to offer trips to churches in Mumbai and Goa, apart from the Panj takhts, the important sites for Sikhs, and other offerings to places significant to Muslims as well.”
Apart from the many rich Indian splendours, the Indian spiritual tourist is also looking at options abroad as well. Shweta Mohan, for instance, has The Ramayana trail in Sri Lanka on her bucket list. “Spiritual tourism is growing at a rapid pace and people are embracing it,” says Ashish. The gods are waiting.
Published – February 26, 2025 02:23 pm IST
