Crores of devotees are arriving daily in Prayagraj to take a holy dip at Mahakumbh 2025, which is touted as the world’s largest religious gathering. However, due to unprecedented congestion on routes to Prayagraj, several devotees have been stuck in traffic jams for more than 11 hours.
The massive traffic congestion on routes leading to Prayagraj stretches up to 300 kilometres, reported Hindustan Times. Several devotees shared their experiences on social media, and many vented their frustration with mismanagement.
Due to long traffic jams on routes to Prayagraj, several devotees have been asked to return to their homes because of overcrowding. The police officials announced in Katni, a Madhya Pradesh city nearly 300 kilometres away from Prayagraj, not to visit the city, Dainik Bhaskar reported on Monday.
A large number of vehicles, most of them from Maharashtra and southern states, were stranded in Katni, Maihar and Rewa districts due to traffic jams.
A social media user, Bhaskar Sarma, shared his experience of attending Mahakumbh 2025 in a series of posts on X.
“Stuck in brutal traffic, with people saying there’s a 20 km jaam all the way to the Kumbh site. Would have gotten out and walked, except 27 kms under the hot sun and bad dust pollution might not be that optimal [sic],” read one of the posts by Sarma on February 7.
“Stuck in traffic for past 3 hours on the way to Maha kumbh mela. No response from the concerned authorities to make the situation any better for all the people going through this ordeal. Would you request kumbh authorities to take required action [sic],” commented another user on X.
Amid a heavy influx of public in Prayagraj, the city’s main railway station was temporarily shut due to overcrowding. In response to the increasing crowd, the railway authorities on Sunday decided to temporarily close the Prayagraj Sangam station to the general public, though train services continued as usual.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over massive traffic congestion in Prayagraj. The SP leader also flagged the inconvenience faced by passengers, who were forced to wait for hours without food, water, and toilet facilities.
“Due to the traffic jam everywhere in Prayagraj, neither food grains, vegetables, spices are available nor medicines, petrol-diesel. Due to this, the condition of crores of hungry, thirsty, tired and exhausted devotees stuck in Prayagraj and Maha Kumbh premises and on the roads leading to Prayagraj is getting worse every hour. This is a very serious situation,” Yadav said in a post on X.
