Analysis Of Maha Kumbh Mela

The Maha Kumbh Mela, which started in January in Allahabad, no longer has merely tottering stalls selling everyday products to pilgrims. It is also a place for companies manufacturing heavy equipments, construction and agricultural equipment manufacturer JCB India to peddle their wares priced at lakhs of rupees.

"Last time I was here in 2001, there were stalls of only consumer goods items like toothpaste." says Mr. Mehta, a pilgrim at the Kumbh Mela, Allahbad.

For many organizations, for example, JCB, the world's biggest religious festival held at regular intervals is sheer advertising nirvana. The Kumbh Mela has dependably been a major business opportunity, yet this time organization are going the additional step to advance their brands by

Mobile service provider Vodafone India, for instance, is reaching out to consumers by screening films and providing musical ear-muffs, wired with in-built speakers that play devotional songs. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare has a basketball ring at its stall for people to shoot hoops and win free biscuits with their cups of Horlicks while cosmetics company Emami Ltd has set up massage kiosks for pilgrims to experience its Navratna Oil brand. It has also introduced stilt-walkers to hand out dry sampling packs.

Coca-Cola India has chosen to go hightech and set up Wi-Fi services at 12 of its 16 stalls where people can download free Coke-Studio music and other brand content such as a new ad jingle. The strategy has paid off: it has logged more than 11,000 downloads a month since the nearly two-month fair began (52 Number of companies marketing their products at the

We also handed out free passes for a film about the Kumbh," says Anuradha Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, Brand Communication and Insights, Vodafone India. (42 Number of companies at the Kumbh for the first time)

"It takes organisers 60 days to set up this mela, which has an estimated population equal to that of any of the four metros. This has always been a great place for companies to market their products," says Kashyap.

Government authorities estimate up to 30 million individuals take a plunge at the Sangam - the intersection of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati waterways - on the major Shahi Snan days. With such massive numbers of people, the Kumbh Mela is the subject of a Harvard University case study on the logistics behind the "pop-up mega-city" that comes up in Allahabad during the religious festival.

As the Kumbh Mela goes upmarket, guests don't need to grunge it out in makeshift tents any longer. For about Rs 11,000 a night, they can remain in extravagance tents offering all the common luxuries they need from tiled restrooms to buffet breakfasts. Laxmi Kutir, a private camp on a slope along the Ganga, for instance, invites gurus and guides to engage with guests and organises daily prayers for spiritually-hungry