The recently concluded Kumbh mela drew not just pilgrims but toy sellers, chaat makers and sanitation workers from across Uttar Pradesh and also neighboring states who turned up in large numbers to tap the world’s largest religious gathering to boost incomes
Anuj Behal
Pictures by Rajneesh Verma
Camel rearer Faisal chats with a fellow nomad at the Sangam Ghat, in Prayagraj, March 1, 2025.
PRAYAGRAJ, Uttar Pradesh: The Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering, concluded on February 26 in Prayagraj, India, after six weeks of rituals and festivities. The pilgrims may have left after taking a holy dip in the Ganges, but many others stayed on up to the weekend. On March 1, traders, sellers of small toys and those who put up makeshift counters to sell chaat, bangles or moved around selling tea, were seen packing their goods, some with their hearts and wallets full after doing brisk business at the mela, others still hopeful of last-minute sales, before leaving Prayagraj.
The festival, which began on January 13, is deeply rooted in Hindu mythology and revolves around the belief in the purifying power of sacred rivers. According to estimates by the Uttar Pradesh government, more than 660 million people participated in the event, taking a ritual dip at the Sangam—the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
Millions journeyed to the Sangam, seeking not just spiritual solace but also the promise of sustenance. Among the throngs of pilgrims, thousands of migrant workers made their way to the Kumbh Mela, seizing the opportunity to earn a living. For gig workers and small vendors, the 45-day religious spectacle became more than a sacred gathering—it was a marketplace, a fleeting economy where essentials were sold, services offered, and livelihoods secured.
Estimates suggest that the Maha Kumbh Mela is also emerging as one of the biggest generators of temporary employment. Staffing and recruitment firms project that the festival created around a million short-term jobs. While thousands have been employed to construct a sprawling temporary city on the riverbanks, many more worked to manage makeshift facilities, oversee transport and logistics, and provide security and emergency services.
“The Kumbh Mela is not just a spiritual gathering—it’s also a vast marketplace. While formal tenders have been awarded to firms and contractors across the country, informal vendors from various states have also arrived, offering goods and services unique to their regions or simply seeking an opportunity to earn,” said an official at the Prayagraj Mela Authority, who did not wish to be identified.
For many, this is more than just a seasonal business—it’s a chance to make in weeks what might take them an entire year back home. Speaking to The Migration Story, seasonal migrants from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and across Uttar Pradesh recounted their journeys, driven by the hope that amid the ebb and flow of pilgrims, prosperity, too, might wash up on their shores.
Faisal poses with his camel at Kumbh City, in Prayagraj, March 1, 2025.
Faisal traveled nearly 1,400 kilometers on foot from Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district to the Kumbh Mela, a journey that took him one-and-a-half months. Setting off in late November, he arrived in Prayagraj about a week before the festival began.
Accompanied by three members of his clan, each with their own camel, Faisal lived in a rented room in the Daraganj area. Finding accommodation, however, was a challenge—not just for themselves but also for their camels. “Convincing a landlord to rent to us and securing enough space to keep the camels was not easy. We searched a lot before finally finding a place,” he said.
But he is not returning to Jaisalmer just yet. Faisal hopes to try his luck at Vikramotsav, a 40-day festival in Ujjain, in the coming months.
Ankur Kashyap prepares fresh lemon tea and serves it to a pilgrim near Sangam Ghat, in Prayagraj, February 28, 2025.
Ankur Kashyap, 28, from Bisalpur, Pillibhat district in UP arrived at the Kumbh Mela on Basant Panchami, February 13. A seasonal agricultural laborer, he saw an opportunity amid the crowds and began selling lemon tea. “Tea is what everyone wants,” he said, “but making masala chai here is difficult—you need a stove, milk, and so many other things.” Lemon tea, on the other hand, is simple. “Just add masala, sugar, and pour hot water—quick and ready to go.”
Selling tea has proven profitable for him, with daily earnings reaching ₹4,000–₹5,000 at its peak. With the rush easing after the Mahashivratri snan, business has slowed. “Work has slowed down now. I'm just passing time here. I'll head back in a few days,” he said, waiting out the remaining days before heading home. In the meantime, he has built a makeshift jhuggi in the Daraganj area to sustain his days of employment.
Traders head back to their village from Kumbh City, Prayagraj, on February 27, 2025.
Pappu, a chaat papdi vendor from Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, arrived at the Kumbh Mela with a group of 20—his wife, three children, extended family, and their households. He had a clear purpose: “We didn’t come here for the rituals or the holy dip—we came to run our shop.”
Chaat-making, he explains, is an enterprise that demands many hands. “You can’t manage alone.” Procuring raw materials added to the challenge, with the nearest markets in Daraganj, nearly six kilometers away from their vending spot.
Pappu, who planned to stay for 20–25 days, was initially called by his aunt. “The mela is doing great—come quickly,” she had urged. Now, seeing the profits, he regrets not coming sooner. The group set up a jhuggi along the edges of the VIP Road in Sector 2, a hub for both production and living. The road was less crowded, offering a safer place to stay, while their vending cart was stationed on Triveni Road, where the footfall was higher. Brushing off the disruption as part of the routine, he said, “We were once evicted the day Yogi ji (Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath) was coming but were quickly allowed to come back, so it didn’t affect us much—itna toh chalta hi hai”.
As the Kumbh wound down, Pappu prepared to leave. The day after the festival ended, he packed up his cart, cooking vessels, and family into a single LCV vehicle—driving back with the same urgency with which he had arrived.
Pankaj Shah sells shankh chudi in Kumbh City, February 28, 2025.
Pankaj Shah, 45, from Ramgarh, Jharkhand, had come to Kumbh to sell shankh chudi (conch shell bangles). He arrived on February 10 with a group of 10–20 people. Back home, he is also in the manihari trade– selling bindis and bangles.
“I’ve had a lot of sales here,” he says. “I brought shankh chudi knowing that it would fetch a good price. What usually takes us four months to sell, we’ve managed to sell in just two to three weeks.”
Santosh Poonia from Aajeevika Bureau highlighted how large gatherings like the Kumbh Mela are both an opportunity and a challenge for informal workers. "For casual daily wage laborers, such events provide crucial employment, especially since the festival lasts for weeks, creating steady work in construction, sanitation, and vending," he explained.
However, this economic relief is temporary. Once the festival ends, workers are thrust back into uncertainty. "The shock comes when they have to return to irregular jobs with no stability," Poonia said, underscoring the precarious nature of informal labor in India.
Sunil holds up a toy helicopter to attract customers in the Kumbh City complex, Prayagraj, February 28, 2025.
Sunil Shah, 32, from Bihar, arrived at the Kumbh Mela with four bags of toys. When the festival was nearing its end, he was left with just one bag to sell before heading back to his village in Bhagalpur. Selling toys is what he does back home too, travelling from one fair to another.
He came late to the Kumbh, staying back for a local mela in his village. He had also heard about a stampede at the festival, which made him hesitant about making the journey. “I was a bit scared after hearing about all that,” he said.
In Prayagraj, he rented a small room in Jhusi, sharing it with seven others from his village for ₹5,000. “Everyone here is selling something—some have carts, some are selling prasad, and people like me have toys,” he said. Like most hawkers, he moves wherever work takes him. “Jahan kaam milega, pahunch jaenge—wherever there’s work, we’ll go.”
Preeti with her mother and daughter sit outside their jhuggi at Sangam, in Prayagraj, February 28, 2025.
Preeti arrived at the Kumbh Mela from Kaushambi district before the festival began, bringing along her four children, husband, sister, mother, and in-laws. “Many people from our village planned to come, so we did too,” she said. Her husband, a daily wage labourer back home, came in search of work and found a job rowing boats on the river. Preeti, along with her sister and mother, started selling flowers, coconuts, and other offerings for the river rituals.
“There’s no work back in the village—no farming, nothing. Even when there is, we only get work once in a while,” she said. The family set up a makeshift jhuggi near the Sangam’s ghats, hoping for steady earnings. But business has been tough. “There haven’t been enough sales. Just look—coconuts are lying everywhere, flowers are left unsold,” she said, looking frustrated. “Some days were better, but the police keep chasing us away. How can anyone work like this?”
Now, she is simply waiting. “My dewar (brother-in-law) is bringing a small goods vehicle—he’s on his way. That’s all we’re waiting for now,” she said.
Anjali Balmiki (face covered) heads back to her village in Fatehpur with fellow villagers, their belongings, and cleaning equipments, February 28, in Prayagraj.
Anjali Balmiki,22 from Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh came to Kumbh Mela to work as a sanitation worker under a contractor, a job she has been doing for the past two months at the festival. The festival made headlines for setting a Guinness World Record when 15,000 sanitation workers participated in a mass cleanliness drive across multiple venues. Yet, the work remains deeply entrenched in caste hierarchies.
The festival relies heavily on 5,000 workers assigned exclusively to toilet cleaning—most of whom come from the lowest strata of India’s entrenched caste hierarchy. As Anjali bluntly puts it, “We do the same work back home, and we did the same here. Who else will clean if not the Balmiki?”
Ambedkar argued that in India, the segregation of labor is inherently tied to the segregation of caste. Vidyasagar Sharma, a sociology scholar at Bielefeld University in Germany, builds on this argument, highlighting how large-scale religious festivals like the Kumbh Mela reinforce and reproduce caste hierarchies.
"Festivals like the Kumbh, given their sheer scale, do more than just celebrate faith—they entrench caste divisions," Sharma explains. "Who gets to contribute to what part of the festival? The division of labor at such events is not random; it follows the same caste-based distinctions of purity and impurity that govern Indian society. Certain communities are assigned tasks deemed 'menial,' while others perform roles considered 'pure' and sacred. This reinforces the very structures Ambedkar critiqued."
Her earnings came through the contractor, who also provided a tent for workers to live in at the Kumbh site. The arrangement, she said, was decent—basic but reliable, with food arriving on time.
Sanitation worker Ajay Kumar clears waste from the river near a pontoon bridge at Sangam Ghat, Prayagraj, February 28, 2025.
Since January 1, Ajay Kumar has been working at the Kumbh Mela site, cleaning offerings and waste dumped into the river. He hails from Banda district and, like many others from his village, was brought to Prayagraj by a contractor who recruited laborers from their village.
Back home, Ajay works as a cleaner, and here, too, his job remains the same. The contractor is paying him ₹15,000 for a month’s work, with shifts running from 6 AM to 2 PM every day. With a wry smile, he remarks, “No matter how much we clean, it never stays clean. People don’t stop throwing waste, and we’re here every day picking it up. Maybe if they stopped tossing flowers into the Ganga, they’d earn more punya (merit).”
Anjana, who traveled with the same group as Ajay, is also tirelessly cleaning the river. Unlike him, she does not have regular work back in the village. “This job at Kumbh not only gave me work but also a chance to leave home and see the city,” she says. “It’s my first time away from home. It feels good.”
Samdesh Kumar prepares fresh sugarcane juice in Kumbh City, Prayagraj, March 1, 2025.
Samdesh Kumar, 30, a seasonal fruit and vegetable seller from Pratapgarh, arrived in Prayagraj ahead of the Kumbh Mela with his cart loaded onto an LCV (light commercial vehicle). Traveling with two others, they have set up a makeshift jhuggi near the Sangam.
They sold fresh sugarcane juice, sourcing the cane from the local mandi at ₹20 per piece. Once the season shifts, Samdesh plans to switch to selling mangoes, staying in Prayagraj for a few more months.
Tulsi from Nagpur district in Maharashtra displays her collection of gems, stones, and beaded chains, at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, March 1, 2025.
Tulsi, 45, from a village in Nagpur, Maharashtra, had been preparing for the Kumbh Mela ever since the first announcement of the event. “A few of us first went to Nepal to source this collection of chains, beads, and semi-precious stones,” she says. “We invested nearly ₹2 lakh because these specific items are only found there.”
The gamble paid off. “People loved the products, and we quickly recovered our investment,” she said.
Tulsi and her group of 150–200 traders traveled to Prayagraj by train, setting up stalls at the Mela. With sales wrapping up, they plan to leave soon, returning home with profits from their seasonal trade.
Anuj Behal is an independent journalist and urban researcher primarily focusing on urban informality, justice, gender, and sexuality
