Mahakumbh Mela 2025: Airfares and hotel tariffs soar as Prayagraj gears up for mega festival

One of the world’s largest religious events, the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela is just around the corner. Set to take place in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26, this spiritual gathering attracts millions of devotees and tourists from across the globe who take a holy dip in the sacred waters of the Triveni Sangam, where the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the Saraswati rivers converge.

Over 450 million people from India and abroad are expected to visit Prayagraj, the spiritual heart of India. What makes the Maha Kumbh Mela a big deal this year, is cause it is the Maha Kumbh that occurs only once every 144 years. It is the culmination of 12 purna-kumbhs that happen every 12 years. The Ardha-kumbh happens every six years. The Purna kumbh is organised in four holy places Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.

Also read | Temperatures to dip below normal; IMD launches webpage for updates on Prayagraj ahead of Maha Kumbh

As demand for travel is expected to rise, airlines are going all out to launch flights to Prayagraj from various destinations. The Airports Authority of India has said that there are 20 new flight connections exclusively for the Maha Kumbh. IndiGo has launched flights from Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, while SpiceJet is connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad.

Limited flights mean, devotees will have to pay more for airfares. For instance, a one-way ticket from Mumbai to Prayagraj on the January 12 is nearly Rs 30,000. Bengaluru to Prayagraj on the January 11 costs over Rs 22,000. Meanwhile, Prayagraj airport is stepping up its game. The existing airport is being revamped and a new terminal is being developed to handle about 2,700 passengers at peak hours. Staying in hotels will also be an expensive affair with room rates for a night soaring to as high as Rs 40,000.

Also read: Why Maha Kumbh 2025 is called the world’s largest peaceful gathering

The state is spending a whopping Rs 5,496 crore for the event — a lot more than it spent in 2019. The govt has allocated 4,000 hectares of land for the Maha Kumbh Mela which is double compared to the 1,900 hectares allocatad in Purna Kumbh of 2013.

Over 1,50,000 tents and 25,000 accommodations are being set up for devotees from India and abroad. And for the first time, an entire tent city will be mapped on Google Maps. The Maha Kumbh is a big deal for the hospitality sector and the state is expecting to generate approximately 25,000 crore in revenues.