I had earlier visited Maha-Kumbh in January 2025 and that was a rejuvenating experience. My second chance to visit the Kumbh Mela occurred on 08 February 2025 which was altogether a newer experience. During this trip, I did not have basic facilities like the confirmed reservation up to the final destination. I also did not get the local public transport within PrayagRaj city due to the heavy public load. It was because this Saturday was the auspicious day of Ekadashi. Let me take you to this adventurous as well as the sacred journey to Pryagraj Mahakumbh 2025.

Reaching PrayagRaj:

We had our train seats reserved till Kanpur only and travelled further unreserved through a Kumbh Mela Special train. We reached Kanpur comfortably and the adventure started from there. After alighting from the train in Kanpur, we looked for the trains going to Prayagraj. All the trains were heavily crowded and people inside the train were not letting the passengers get in the train. We tried to get on three different trains but could not succeed in boarding either of them. Later, we heard about a special train that was going to PrayagRaj; it was a Kumbh Mela Special Train for the passengers with Second Class tickets. 

This train was also heavily loaded with passengers, but somehow, we boarded it. There was no place to sit or even stand. Later, we realized that there was some space available near the toilets. We went there and stood in the passing area. As it was not a regular train but a special train, it was running late. It was because the special trains had to give way to regular trains wherever needed. Therefore, it took over six hours to drop us at ParayagRaj Junction which was just 200 km from Kanpur. Standing for an entire night was a tough task for comfort-seekers like us. Therefore, we sat on the floor one by one to relax our bodies and legs. The train dropped us at PrayagRaj Junction in the morning at around 07:30 AM.

Reaching Kumbh Mela Area:

During my previous visit to Maha-Kumbh on 18 January 2025, we easily got a bus that dropped us around 2 km away from Sangam Ghat. However, this time we could not get the bus as there were a huge number of devotees due to Ekadashi and warmer weather conditions. We tried to hire a battery-operated vehicle but could not succeed in getting one. Therefore, we also decided to walk like other devotees.

As we moved forward, the Sun started to rise and so did the crowd. We continued moving towards the bank of Ganga Ji and Sangam as directed by the police officials. After walking for around 3.5 hours, we reached the bank of Ganga Ji.

We decided to cross over the pontoon bridge and take a dip on the other side of it. It took us around half an hour more to walk towards that side. We reached the Snan-Ghat (River Bank for Bathing) at around 12:15 PM.

Dipping in the River (Ganga Snan)

After walking nearly 10 km, when we saw the beautifully flowing water of the Mother Rivers, our tiredness lessened a bit. We started walking even faster to get in the water. Four people from our group took only 30 seconds to take off their clothes and jump into the water. I stayed outside to click their pictures as they wanted to be shot on camera. They said that their tiredness had vanished and they no longer wanted to come out of the river.

After about half an hour, I also jumped in and, yes, the tiredness vanished. The clean, cold flowing water was rejuvenating every cell of my body while the wind flowing over it was offering an internal peace. The wet soil under my feet was snatching away all the pain from them. I took a few dips and then stood underwater to feel the bliss of the pure water, soil, and air. Later, I dried myself with a towel, dressed, and offered some flowers and sweeteners to Mother Rivers. It was a soothing experience to be there. I wanted to sit beside Ganga Ji for some time but I couldn’t because we were running out of time. Therefore, we decided to move on the route that could take us to the railway station.

Reaching Back PrayagRaj Junction Railway Station:

We started walking towards the Kumbh exit route.

We had decided to have lunch on the way but we could not get anything solid. Though there were restaurants on the way, they were filled. Therefore, we could not get anything to eat. As we were running out of time, we decided to eat some sweets and snacks and continue walking. After walking for around 7 km, someone told us that the PrayagRaj Junction was 5 km away from there. He also asked us to go towards the bank road from where public transport could be hired. We moved on that path, and luckily, we got a three-wheeler that dropped us at the Junction for ₹50 each.

Returning to Delhi:

After reaching PrayagRaj Junction, we bought second-class tickets to Kanpur as our pre-booked reservation was from Kanpur. The station was well-managed; there was no crowd at the station because people were segregated in advance and the moment they reached the platform, they were made to board special trains and transported from there. We also boarded a train that took us to the SubedarGunj Railway station. We saw that there was an express train scheduled to go towards Kanpur, so we left the special train and boarded that express train. The train dropped us at Kanpur Central railway station at around 10:30 PM. Finally, we got some time to eat dinner as our train was after two hours.

We had dinner at a not-so-good restaurant but because we were hungry for the last 24 hours, we loved that food. After dinner, we went to the platform from where our train was to depart. When the train arrived, it was also completely packed. Somehow we entered the train but reaching our seats was a tough task. However, the tougher task was to occupy our berths because passengers, with non-reserved seats, had occupied them. We had to struggle a lot to occupy our berths. As soon as we lay down on our respective berths, we went into a deep sleep. The train dropped us at Delhi Junction railway station at 8:30 AM the next morning.