The Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering, began on January 13, drawing an estimated 400 million pilgrims to Prayagraj, India. For the first time, artificial intelligence (AI) is being used extensively to monitor and manage the massive crowds, with the aim of preventing stampedes—a recurring risk at such large-scale events.
Amit Kumar, a senior police officer overseeing technology at the festival, said, “We want everyone to go back home happily after having fulfilled their spiritual duties.”
The event has a history of deadly crowd incidents, including the deaths of over 400 people in 1954 and 36 fatalities in 2013, both in Prayagraj. This year, around 300 cameras and drones have been deployed across the festival grounds, feeding real-time data into an AI-powered command center near the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. The system tracks crowd density and raises alarms when thresholds are breached.
“We are using AI to track people flow, crowd density at various inlets, adding them up and then interpolating from there,” Kumar explained.
Six million pilgrims participated in ritual bathing on the festival’s first day. The state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, described the event as a blend of faith and modernity, crediting technology for enhancing safety.
Harshit Joshi, a pilgrim, shared his thoughts: “The fact that there are cameras and drones makes us feel safe.”
