A marketer at the Maha Kumbh: Faith, footfall, and brand lessons from Earth’s grandest gathering

The first thing that hits you at the Maha Kumbh is not the sheer scale of it all—though, at 45 crore attendees, it is mind-boggling. It’s not even the ceaseless stream of humanity making its way to the sacred Sangam, where the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati converge.

No, the first thing that strikes you is something far more primal: the absolute, undeniable power of faith. And as someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes marketing, I couldn’t help but marvel at how seamlessly certain organisations—notably spiritual ones—have harnessed this colossal event for brand building in ways most consumer brands can only dream of.

Let’s be clear: I wasn’t at the Maha Kumbh on assignment for Campaign India or even Haymarket Media Group India. This was a personal pilgrimage of faith and curiosity.

But when marketing is embedded in your DNA, you see campaigns everywhere, even in the most sacred of settings.

The Maha Kumbh Mela, held once every 144 years in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, is one of the largest human gatherings on the planet. The 2025 edition, running from January 13 to February 26, is estimated to welcome 45 crore devotees, including 15 lakh foreign tourists—a staggering increase from the 25 crore attendees in 2019. Organised jointly by the Ministry of External Affairs and the UP government, it is projected to generate INR 2 trillion ($23 billion) in revenue while the government’s budget stands at INR 63.82 billion ($740 million), according to Ipsos India’s Parijat Chakraborty said in a report.

For any brand strategist, these numbers alone would be enough to make the Maha Kumbh an unmissable marketing opportunity. But here’s the catch: this isn’t your typical consumer event where brands can just slap a logo on a hoarding and expect magic to happen. The Maha Kumbh is a complex, deeply spiritual experience, and for brands to make an impact, they must align with its ethos, not disrupt it.

The diversity dilemma: Who are you even targeting?

Imagine trying to create a single campaign that resonates with an audience spanning geographies, income levels, and demographics. It’s an advertiser’s Rubik’s cube. And one that keeps changing colours just when you think you have nailed it.

The Maha Kumbh is a microcosm of India: urban elites and rural farmers, tech entrepreneurs and daily wage labourers, all making their way to the riverbanks with the same purpose. The sheer diversity makes it nearly impossible for a one-size-fits-all marketing approach to work.

Walking through the Mela grounds, I saw an overwhelming number of brand activations—billboards, stalls, and branded installations, all jostling for attention. Some were purely functional, offering free water, medical aid, or resting spaces in exchange for eyeballs.

Others were more aggressive, hoping to tap into the spiritual sentiment with vague taglines about purity and devotion. And yet, I wondered—how many of these campaigns were actually cutting through the noise?

For brands simply seeking visibility, this mass exposure might be enough. But for those aiming to drive engagement or actual conversions, the Maha Kumbh presents a far greater challenge.

The transient nature of the crowd, the spiritual intent of their visit, and the logistical chaos of a temporary city spanning 4,000 hectares mean that conventional marketing tactics just don’t hold up. And just how many eyeballs can you capture across the 1.6 lakh tents that had sprung up all over the city?

Spiritual organisations: The real masters of engagement

If there’s one category of ‘brands’ that git it right at the Maha Kumbh, in my humble opinion, it had to be the spiritual organisations. Unlike consumer brands, which are essentially gate-crashers in this space, these entities are intrinsic to the event. Their alignment with the context, the audience’s needs, and the emotional tenor of the occasion is near perfect.

Take, for example, the sprawling tents of major spiritual sects. These aren’t just makeshift setups; they are immersive brand experiences. The biggest spiritual organisations create entire ecosystems within the Mela—offering accommodation, food, guided rituals, and discourse sessions.

It’s marketing at its purest form: attract, engage, and convert. They start by serving an immediate need (a place to stay, a meal to eat), then engage visitors through sermons, events, and interactive experiences, before finally converting them into lifelong followers—what in marketing parlance we’d call customer acquisition and retention.

Beyond the physical engagement, these organisations also master digital amplification. The Kumbh serves as prime content creation territory, with high-profile spiritual leaders attracting both mainstream media and social media coverage. Every sermon, every congregation, and every mass dip in the holy waters is an opportunity for viral content, reinforcing brand affinity far beyond the physical event itself.

Lessons for marketers: It’s not just about being seen

Spending two days navigating this grand spectacle, a few key marketing takeaways stood out, based on what I noticed the spiritual entities do right:

1. Resonance over reach: The spiritual organisations were most effective brands not merely because they were visible; they were contextually relevant. Similarly, brands that were able to tie their messaging to the spiritual and cultural significance of the event stood a far better chance of leaving an impact than those relying solely on mass advertising.
2. Service as strategy: Many spiritual organisations offered free services like providing free food or accommodation, and were far more successful in engaging with devotees than traditional advertising could have hoped to achieve. Visitor gravitated toward these large-scale arenas since it added genuine value to their experience.
3. Community-driven engagement: Spiritual organisations succeeded because they weren’t selling a product; they were building a community. Similarly, brands that can foster a sense of belonging and shared purpose will find far greater traction than those relying on transactional marketing.

Navigating cultural sensitivity and opportunism

Of course, for brands, there’s a fine line between thoughtful engagement and blatant opportunism. The Maha Kumbh is, at its heart, a deeply sacred event. Any attempt at marketing must be done with utmost sensitivity.

Visitors are not passive consumers; they are pilgrims on a spiritual journey. If a brand’s messaging disrupts rather than enhances this experience, it risks backlash.

Unlike a music festival or a sporting event, the Maha Kumbh isn’t about impulse purchases or immediate conversions. The real value lies in long-term brand perception, goodwill, and cultural credibility.

The Maha Kumbh is an anomaly in the marketing world—a space where 45 crore people gather with a shared purpose, yet where conventional advertising struggles to find its footing. It’s a reminder that some of the most profound marketing lessons come not from boardrooms but from understanding human behaviour in its most organic form.

As I left the Mela grounds, covered in a fine layer of dust and carrying more philosophical musings than I had bargained for, I couldn’t help but think—perhaps the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing at all. Maybe, just maybe, it feels like faith. And in a place like the Maha Kumbh, that’s the most powerful currency of all.

- Ashish Bhushan, country head—India, Haymarket Media Group. 

Disclaimer: These are my personal observations as a visitor. I acknowledge that my two-day experience provided only a limited view of this vast event.