70 Lakh Participated In Kumbh Mela Held Amid Covid Surge

Despite the huge number of people gathering around Haridwar to take a dip in the holy Ganga, the 2021 event was a comparatively modest event -- reduced to just one month and scaled down midway due to the raging pandemic.

Seventy lakh devotees participated in Haridwar's Kumbh Mela, the mammoth religious congregation which ended Friday after triggering a scare that it might have acted as a coronavirus "super-spreader". Despite the huge number of people gathering around Haridwar to take a dip in the holy Ganga, the 2021 event was a comparatively modest event -- reduced to just one month and scaled down midway due to the raging pandemic. Held over three months in normal circumstances, the Kumbh Mela this time formally begun as late as April 1 due to concerns over COVID-19. About 2,600 devotees tested positive out of the nearly two lakh tests conducted by medical personnel during the mela.