Ravi's trip to Maha Kumb Mela 2025

 

Initial Plan:  

I had a planned visit to India to attend a couple of marriages. In between, I was looking forward to taking the Holi dip in Triveni Sangam during the Maha Kumb 2025.

Initially, I was planning to with my buddies from the Kailash Manasarovar Trip in 2023, but unfortunately, my friend's mom's health deteriorated and they had to opt out of the trip after waiting for a couple of days for her health to improve.

Now everyone around me was saying don't go as the crowd is huge and there may be complications in the trip. I was trying to say to myself, that not everyone has the opportunity to visit the largest human spiritual gathering on earth, and when I have the opportunity I should not lose it.

I was trying to see if I could join any group going to Maha Kumb but they were on the expensive side, even the flight tickets were getting expensive.

Day 1:  

With blessings from Mahadev, I had decided that I would start my journey on January 25'2025 through one way or another(Flight, Train, or Bus) but going to keep the spending within a reasonable budget.

Luckily the one-way flight tickets which were showing in the range of 30k+ Indian Ruppes came in the range of 15k+ while I was on my morning walk. I booked the flight instantly which was about to start in the next 2.5 hours.

I called my family and asked them to pack a couple of clothes as I would be leaving for the airport as soon as I came back from my walk. My brother and nephew came in two-wheelers to the food place where I was walking, we completed our breakfast rapidly and I rushed back home with one of the two-wheelers.

I arrived in VARANASI and decided to take an Uber motorcycle to the hotel that our neighbor in Hyderabad was able to book and also arrange a guide.

I arrive at the hotel, where the hotel manager who is a distant friend of our neighbor shows me the room available in their hotel at Assighat.

I took some rest in the hotel, started to complete some pending office work, and waited for Ganga Aarti to start.  

 

At the time of Ganga Aarti my guide arrived, he advised me to take the boat and watch the aarti as it would be better instead of seeing the aarti from the ghats.

While going on the boat, my guide was explaining to me the details of all the ghats and it was a very lovely experience.

While coming back, we decided to get down near Vishwanath Ji. My guide said he would go back and get the two-wheeler so that we don't need to spend a lot of time walking back to the hotel.

I went in line to do Darshan for Vishwanath ji, and after waiting for a couple of hours, I could just go in front of Vishwanathji but couldn't do the Darshan because of how the deity looked as I was pushed by the security people around there due to huge rush.

I did some meditation inside the temple and headed out and asked my guide to pick me up, but there was a huge traffic and I was waiting for almost an hour, I decided to taste Meleu around the temple, it was just a cloud of milk which I was not happy with.

Ultimately my guide asked me to walk to the chauk where he picked me up and eventually, we ended up going to the hotel where I logged back in to complete my office work and worked a little extra for the hours that I lost due to the long weight at Vishwanathji.

Day 2  

 

I got up a little early in the morning, I called my guide but he was still sleeping. In the meanwhile, I called my team and advised that the work we had been working on for the last few weeks, its the ideal time to release as it was a time-sensitive release.

We worked on the release which took a a lot longer than I expected but eventually, we were able to do the weekend release and then the breakfast in the hotel was also over and I couldn't have it as I was busy with office work.

When my office work was complete, my guide took me to SANKAT MOCHAN HANUMAN MANDIR, as it was a Saturday, we were very fortunate to see Sankatmochan ji on Saturday. It was busy but I was able to recite Hanuman Chalisa from the books which were available in the temple.

Once Hanumanji Darhsan was done, my guide took me to DURGA KUND, I had Darhsan of Mataji and then my guide asked me to take a rest as two temples were done.

When we decided to have some food, initially I wanted to have the thali but then thought that let's try to avoid carbohydrates and have a little later lunch.

I called my guide to pick me up, and while he was coming, I was walking on the street and saw a very exotic hotel whose backdoor was to the Assighat.

I went in and was trying to take some photos when the hotel staff requested me to order something, I  ordered Chilli Paneer thinking protein would be better, the guys made a very good paneer and asked me for a review, when I said it was amazing, both the young adults who made the paneer got super excited and high-fived each other which was an amazing scene to watch.  

I came back to the hotel, rested for some time, and then the guide came and let's go and see Kaal Bhairav(initially he was giving me a lot of options that I don't remember, I asked him to choose a destination for me and he chose Kaal Bhairav temple).

He took me to Kaal Bhairav temple, the queue was huge, and it took a few hours, I made a friend in the queue, as I stood for him when some people were trying to break the line and push him back and he returned the favor by helping me in doing the prayer properly asking me not to eat any junk and instead go to God as pious which was a very nice thing. Darshan was very good and he even helped me do some shopping near Kaal Bhairav.

When we came back from the temple, I shared my experience a couple of years back from Ganga Aarti near Pashupati Naath ji which was a mesmerizing experience for me, and was told that I didn't find the aarti to be at the same level. The hotel manager asked me to see the Ganga aarti at DASHASWAMEDH, the aarti experience was a little better from Day 1 but still Pashupati naath ji, aarti was so much better as it was done on the running river where this aarti was done on the ghat.

Once aarti was over, I was planning to see how I should plan out my remaining trip, debating between VARNASI=>AYODHYA=>PRAYAG-RAJ=>CHITRAKOOT=>HYDERABAD

or  

VARNASI=>CHITRAKOOT=>PRAYAG-RAJ=>AYODHYA=>HYDERABAD  

or  

VARNASI=>PRAYAG-RAJ=>HYDERABAD  

I discussed this with the hotel manager, who advised me to go Ayodhya=>Varanasi=>Prayaraj=>Chtrakoot=>Ayodhya

I was trying to look at trains and we didn't have any booking for the trains, I asked the hotel manager and he said, to take a regular train ticket and get some adjustments done with the Ticket Conductor, I was very hesitant and then he said you can go in the bus to Ayodhya.

The guide dropped me near the bus stop in Varanasi, I walked for about a kilometer as the guide couldn't get me near the bus stop due to traffic on the road.

To my surprise, there were no buses to Ayodhya that day, and I had to wait for the next day morning at 4 am if I had to go to Ayodhya.

In the meanwhile, I watched many buses were going to Prayagraj(literally every 15-20 minutes a bus was going)

I went in line to a private bus operator and got on the bus. Seeing the situation with transportation I decided to book my train tickets from the bus, my wife asked me to not go to Chitrakoot as there is no transportation from there to Hyderabad. I booked a flight ticket as well from Ayodhya to Delhi as it was a very cheap flight compared to direct booking from Ayodhya to Hyderabad which was laying over in Delhi for 10 hours.

I had some food at the dhaba in the night and in the early morning around 4 AM, we reached Prayag Raj.

Day 3(PRAYAG RAJ):  

The bus stopped me near the barricade and I asked the security guards for the way and they showed me the road which was very long(around 7-10 km) that led to Kumb.

I started walking with the carry-on luggage and my laptop bag. Suddenly someone asked me if I was alone, I hesitantly said yes and asked why, he said, he had a bike and he could drop me off at the nearest dropping point for 100 Ruppes, I gladly accepted the offer and he was able to take me on the bike for around 5-6 km(It appeared as if Shakar ji himself came to help me out)

I got down and then started my yatra in the mela, I attended a couple of satsang on the way and had some snacks(nuts, and sprouts from food vendors so that I don't get sick and at the same time eat healthy)

I had to take a nature break and saw Portable Bathrooms installed on the sand. I asked a shop vendor to see if they could take care of the bag, I put the bag with her and went to complete my natural call as soon as possible.

To my surprise, after opening a couple of bathrooms which were in very dirty shape, I found a bathroom was in reasonable shape, and decided to go in, but saw that there was no water inside, I decided to come out immediately, but there was some wet sand near the portable bathroom and when I stepped on it, I slipped on it and was able to hold my balance with hand to avoid complete fall but pulled my right knee very badly.

I gathered myself, found another bathroom that had an empty bucket inside, filled water in the bucket completed my natural call, and washed the portable toilet so that it was in good shape for the next visitor.

I took my bags, but I noticed I was in some pain. I went near one of the ghats where people were taking a dip, but I found the water to be very muddy.

I asked around and heard some people saying that there was a better place to do the dip, and I started following the direction that group was going, I looked around and saw some boats there, I negotiated a boat ride for a dip(500 rupees) and they took me in the boat, by this time my leg was in a lot of pain, the boat guy saw that and opened some wood planks so that I can keep my foot down near the engine).

We went near the place where a lot of boats were parked, I went down and took a dip in the holy water, the helper from the boat helped me take videos and photos.

when I came back, I paid the money plus a tip to the helper and then decided to come out.

I had booked my train tickets earlier for 6:30 PM and it was around noon when my dip in Holi waters was done.

I asked around on the way back to the station, many of the roads were blocked and a 3 km journey turned into around 8 km to Sangam station.

I saw the Namo Gange exhibition on the way and decided to go in and sit on the floor near one of the exhibits, the staff was very rude and not allow pilgrims to sit, there was no place in my journey in Kumb to sit down, I saw many old people whose knees had given up due to long walks and in pain.

eventually, I called my buddy from the Kailash trip who advised me to go by bus instead of waiting till 6:30 PM, I thought it was a good idea, and decided to go to Civil Lines where the cops were saying had the buses to Ayodhya. It took almost 12 km to reach the civil line via the blocked roads from the exit place on the kumb.

I went near civic lines and saw no bus stop, I asked people around to see where I could get a bus to Ayodhya, couple of food stall vendors pointed to an electric bus and said that it was the bus to Ayodhya. I asked where it stopped for which no one could guide me.

Eventually, I saw quite a few folks standing with luggage and to my surprise that was a bus stop for these buses.

I waited and saw a couple of buses which were already full pass by without stopping. I was getting worried and started asking around, I saw someone on a Motorcycle saying they could take me to the Ayodhya bus for 500 Rs, after trying to bargain for some time, I agreed to the amount he was asking for and that was a very good decision, as I saw the electric buses which had passed me earlier stuck in traffic and the biker was able to take me very fast to the place from where buses to Ayodhya were starting.

I hopped on the bus, I was trying to push my bag on my knee to keep the pain down, I was talking about the people on the bus and made a few friends. Our bus stopped at a dhabha, I had good food.  

 

One of the friends on the bus came to know about the pain and he asked one of his friends to give me a pain medicine from his bag. For the first pain medicine his friend gave me, my friend's bus friend asked me to check if it was the correct medicine before taking it as his friend might not be aware of the medicine he was carrying. That was a good decision to make as I found the medicine he was giving was related to gastric trouble and not pain. Next, he gave me a pain medicine, I had it and dozed off for a few hours.

Next, I realized the bus which was supposed to take 3-5 hours to reach Ayodhya took almost 12 hours, and instead of reaching the evening, we reached Ayodhya early in the morning.

DAY 4(AYODHYA)  

I got off the bus and asked around if there was a place to take a shower as I just got down from the bus and didn't get a chance to book a hotel.

Some auto wala's told me to take a shower in the Sarayu River where lord ram had taken a shower and then complete my visit to the temple.

I decided to do that, did my brush with a neem dantoon, took a bath in the Sarayu River after requesting a flower vendor to keep my bag as I was alone, took the shower, and asked around where Hanuman Gadi would open at 5 am and Ram Mandir would open around 7 AM.

I walked toward Hanuman Gadi for around 4 km and fortunately, there was no line, a sweet shop just opened where the line starts near Hanuman Gadi and asked me to put my shoes and bag in exchange for buying prasad, I did it and waited for the temple to open and completed my darshan to hanuman ji.

Next, I saw some ladies asking for a way to the Ram Temple and I decided to follow the group and complete my Ram temple since I did not have any bags or shoes, I was able to very fast, when a security guy asked me to go back and deposit the phones at the entrance, I said to myself, I am not going back to the entrance, let's try to keep the phones in the pocket and complete the darshan.

Eventually, I was stopped during screening and was asked to deposit the phone back. I went back deposited the phone and completed my darshan at the Ram Lala temple.

 

While coming out, I saw a huge rush of crowd, I had to push people on the way out for a couple of kilometers to reach the entrance line near Hanuman Gadi where my bags were. I eventually took my bags and walked through the huge crowd which kept getting bigger and bigger.

I was able to get on the main road, but I had a lot of difficulty in getting on the dividers or footpaths due to pain in my knee. There was no transportation to the airport. I eventually started walking towards the way of the airport and after around .5 kilometers got an auto that said there was a lot of traffic and he would take 500 instead of 200 to the airport.

I said yes, but I saw a huge traffic jam in a few minutes, I asked the driver if I had to abort the ride as my flight was time-sensitive and paid him partial money.

Walked through the traffic jam, took another auto, and did the same stuff, now this time when I walked out of the jam I was on a high road. There were no autos there. Fortunately, while I kept asking for lifts, a nice policeman stopped and said he was returning after security duty, he said he could drop to the next point from where I could get transportation.

When our ways parted, there was again a traffic jam, I was extremely hungry now, so I took the opportunity to eat Chole Bhature at a local stall, then walked out and took an auto which eventually took me to the airport.

Finally, I was able to board the flight to Delhi, when I landed in Delhi, I booked the flight to Hyderabad which started in 1 hour, and came back to Hyderabad in time to start my office as per US timings :)