Kumbh Mela, a mega religious festival, organized every 6 and 12 years in India at 4 places – Haridwar, Prayagraj, Nashik, and Ujjain based on the astrological position of the Sun, the Moon and Jupiter. This time Mahakumbh is being celebrated at Prayagraj because of the constellation alignment of these planets that occurs once in 144 years which is considered very auspicious and people not only from India while from around the world flocking here to take a holy dip to get spiritual and astrological benefits. The event will be spanning over 45 days, started on 13th Jan 2025 and will last on 26th Feb 2025.
This has caused a massive surge of people to this place, over 45 cr people are expected to visit Mahakumbh, including 3mn foreign tourists and 13 Akharas according to the PIB report. The same report says the event will contribute about 2 lakh crore to the Indian economy and UP GDP is expected to grow by 1% which is remarkable.
Tourists (Foreign/Domestic) not only visiting Mahakumbh while visiting nearby and different places along their journey, contributing to every state and different sectors of the economy. There is news that even small sellers at Mahakumbh earning good amount of money selling basic stuff, such as Daatun, Puja items, bags and others.
The event has surely benefited the country, especially Uttar Pradesh in the economic growth, generated employment as well. So, spiritual tourism has the potential to drive economic growth and create employment across India.
