[IUNKWN]

Yes on a drive to shirdi I had bad exp with MH police. Vultures looking for kuch bhi mil jaye, this should be taken up on twitter. So many TS people travel. MH is a beautiful state but because of this drama I have always kept away my plans to drive to Mumbai kasar ghar igatpuri road.

[lejhoom]

Originally Posted by Rev2Serenity

Shree Kashi mutt is the place where we stayed when me and my friend visited the last Ardh Kumbh in 2019.

Could you please share the contact details of Kashi Mutt? I am looking for accommodation for three days (February 17 to 20)? Wondering if they allow stay there? Thank you.

[lejhoom]

Originally Posted by Rev2Serenity

Have booked a homestay in Airbnb for 11th and 12th night in Prayag, very near to ghat on Jhunsi Side.

May I request you to update your travel experience as well as the experience at this accommodation?

[audioholic]

Finished this mission with a rather positive experience, but conditions apply:
Like I explained earlier, we flew BLR-LKO on Thursday 24th Jan, stayed overnight in Lucknow. 24th Morning we took a cab from Lucknow and went to the Kumbh. Did the needful there and returned yesterday to Bengaluru. The details will follow but a brief summary:

Positives:

• Absolutely clean surroundings, clean water everywhere. Very much unlike my expectation. In spite of all the people, there is no debris in the water.
• Temporary setup of many large chain outlets like Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Chai Point, Chaayos, etc offers clean food with not too much crowd. Apart from this even the economy options are very clean and hygienic
• Elaborate checks done for food safety randomly so none of these outlets skimp on quality
• Plenty of rest rooms and temporary toilets everywhere, like thousands which are regularly cleaned and refilled.
• Massive scale of arrangements everywhere and unbelieveable efforts put together to create all the temporary infrastructure
• Temporary infra includes not only tents, but a network of roads, bridges, food courts and what not
• Tent facilities are very much upto the mark in the luxury tent area called tent city. Not sure about the other places. Very good food within the tent campus, access to a clean river bank etc

Negatives:

• Traffic management is horrible. All the network of parallel roads created goes for a toss when the police dont know how to divert people
• Traffic jams can be massive and there is no guarantee of time to move from the closest of places. So if you are on a tight schedule, better not keep expectations high
• Tent city itself is unmanageable to walk around due to its massive area for elders. E-rickshaws cant get to this area due to the slope and only if cabs are allowed here, its a good choice else avoid at any cost
• Road diversions can change dynamically, so the road you take now can be blocked in an hour and the entire plan can go for a toss. This is the biggest issue in the entire arrangement
• Lack of guidance or any signboards etc to guide people on which is the best route to take to reach the destination. All signboards are only indicating the direction to the sangam, where the traffic jams are

Getting there:
The journey from Lucknow to Prayagraj outskirts was rather smooth and we made it there in good time, but from there it became hell. The diversions are not planned well and depends on the mood of the police manning that post. Hence we were diverted near the bypass to a temporary road that has been built to cross the Ganga river. While we crossed that, this road had no further directions and our driver was also unaware of what to do. We followed the road for a while and then the driver decides to take a turn and a little ahead, we land right in the heart of Prayagraj, with endless traffic jams. Once we were here, the ETA to our tent shot up and up.
Some of the temporary roads that have been set up:


After a two hour battle inside city, we were able to cross Naini Bridge and get to the south of the city to sector 25 without too much of trouble. While we were estimated to reach our stay by 2PM, we reached at 430PM.

Stay:
We had booked tents with Aagman India which is located in the tent city area with many other tent providers all in one place. This is in sector 25 situated alongside other providers like Kumbh Village, UPSTDC etc. We only got the deluxe tent since the booking was in short notice but the tent itself was pretty good. This package offers full board meals and costed around 16k for a tent for two people. While the tent was clean and food was very good, they lack basic organisational skills and there was lot of chaos for check in, lot of people arriving there who were being told they were overbooked and what not. Definitely not what to expect after shelling out lot of money.



So stay away from this organisation and its arrangement at the Mahakumbh. We were lucky we didnt face this issue but still had teething trouble because the room allocated to us was not prepared even at 5PM while the check in time was 2PM onwards. They blame it on people who delay their checkout, which is actually before 12PM. It was a bunch of blame game with lot of people getting into loud arguments and the owners sitting in a corner in front of their screens counting money, while the newbies at the check in had no clue how to manage the bookings.

The other disadvantage of these tents is that since they are located on the river bank, the e Rickshaws dont make it there and you will end up having to walk a long distance to catch them. While getting to the tent was possible in our cab, going around was not easy and food is limited to what they serve you in the buffet three times a day. If you miss it, there is no ala carte option and going out and fetching food is difficult.

Getting around:
Once we realised our location and its limitations it was already past 5PM and we were told that the boats that take people to the sangam point would stop and it wasnt possible to do anything at that time. Hence after being pretty overwhelmed with the entire mela, first thing to do was to get some food since we missed our lunch. Had to walk a pretty long distance to reach a Chai Point outlet and had something to eat and drink. Then we started figuring out options to go boating the next day, and asked around. The rickshaw guys were asking us to go to Sangam Ghat and they would take us early in the morning. They were trying to pull a fast one on us because the one closer to us was Arail Ghat and they would charge a lot of money to take us to Sangam. And this also meant a lot of extra time going there and returning.

After getting confused by too many advises, hitting language barriers, going blank due to food starvation, we hit the SOS button by contacting a person whom we knew. He took matter into his hands and arranged an official vehicle with a local person who knew his stuff. He took us on a tour of the Akhadas which was just massive and we retired for the night after that.

Taking the plunge:
Next morning at 6AM, from our tent we headed to Arail Ghat which was just 3kms away. They arranged a boat for us five, which would take us to the point of the Sangam. This was pretty smooth and was a 20 min journey, followed by which they would dock onto a stationary boat. Here, we could get into the water and take a dip and spend time. We only did what was necessary, and quickly returned to our boat. The ladies had limited changing options(just a cloth curtain room) while there are elaborate facilities on the river banks. Followed by this was a 30 min return journey and we were back on the river bank at 815. By then the crowd at the river bank had built up and were waiting for boats. We rushed back to our tent but again were blocked on the way due to UP CMs visit to Arail Ghat. This took some time and we were back in our tent by 930 before the breakfast closed.

We did not go towards the other side, ie Sangam Ghat or the Hanuman temple etc where more crowd and action was, due to lack of time. One full day would be ideal to be reserved for this activity, and half a day for the dip. That would be a better idea than ours since we had less than 16hrs in Prayagraj.

Getting back:
After a good breakfast, came to our tents to take shower and got ready by 1030 to start our return journey home. However again got stuck in traffic and lot of stationary time. Our return flight was at 1950hrs from Lucknow and at a certain point of time Google maps was showing our ETA at 1900hrs. Then the driver literally decided to go an extra mile or few, drove south towards a town called Sirsa, where he learnt there was a pontoon bridge across the Ganga. After crossing this bridge, we travelled another 9kms to reach the Bypass road. After this the pace improved even though we were still in the outskirts of Prayagraj at 2PM. Finally he made it to Lucknow airport at 6PM, quite some time ahead of our flight including a stop for lunch.

This sounded like a bad idea, but then at the airport we met some other groups which had left Prayagraj areas at 8AM and still reached at the same time as us, and many missed their flights.

Sad part was, while many places had barricades put up, not one policeman tried to guide people to their destinations. If this was done better, it would have really made the event flawless. In the coming days I expect this situation to get worse unfortunately.

Temporary toilets like these are all over the place, right from the bypass:


Pontoon bridges which are selectively allowed to be accessed:


A map I found to be useful to get a hang of the entire place:


Massive crowds at the sangam point where boats dock:


The built up crowd as we returned at 8 AM:

[Rev2Serenity]

Originally Posted by lejhoom

Could you please share the contact ...

Hi, Please check your PM.

Originally Posted by lejhoom

May I request you to update your travel experience as well as the experience at this accommodation?

Yes, Will surely update once we are back from our travel (Feb 8th till Feb 17th).

[Ninja75]

@Rev2Serentiy - Kindly PM me. I too might reach Prayagraj on Feb 8th. Current plan is to drive down from Blr

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by Ninja75

@Rev2Serentiy - Kindly PM me. I too might reach Prayagraj on Feb 8th. Current plan is to drive down from Blr

Driving indeed seems to be a more sensible and economical option provided one can manage the time needed. What with the soaring airfares which more seem like daylight robbery.

We (my wife and I) wanted to make a quick trip by second half of February and selected non-peak days to avoid the big snans. Even then the return fare for direct flights up and down (BLR-IXD-BLR) is around 69k per person when I checked this morning. Accommodations too are way high unless one chooses to stay far in the town and navigate the traffic chaos. We have done lot of road trips but this is the time when there are no holidays and taking a week away from work is impossible if we have to go by road. So on the verge of dropping the idea.

Also saw in the papers today that the Aviation Secretary has convened (more like summoned) a meeting with Airlines to review the fare escalation and have asked for data points. Hope it results in some sanity and normalcy in fares.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Finished this mission with a rather positive experience

Thanks for the detailed explanation & of course the maps.
Planning on visiting in some 10 days time, had couple of query which require your help.

1. We are planning on doing a 24 hour visit to Prayagraj from Varanasi. So mostly will be reaching around Sector 19 to 22 side via road. If we limit our visit to that bank of Yamuna and skip the Aarali Ghat side, is there anything which we will be missing from a touristy point of view?

2. You mentioned on visiting Akhadas, can you please let know the location of those.

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

2. You mentioned on visiting Akhadas, can you please let know the location of those.

Suhas, These akhadas are spread across the mela area but some key Akhadas to visit are Juna Akhara, Niranjani Akhara, Mahanirvani Akhara, Atal Akhara, Anand Akhara, and Avahana Akhara, all of which are primarily located at the Triveni Sangam area. You may need to choose a couple given the paucity of time since you are there only for a day and need to allocate time for the dip as well.

Some other Akhadas could be Shri Panch Nirmohi Ani Akhada, Shri Panch Nirvani Ani Akhada, and Shri Panch Digambar Ani Akhada.

My recommendation, try Juna, Atal and Anand Akharas. If you have a night to halt, you can even book in one of these if possible.

Best for you would be to stay in the Tent city if you can find a reasonable accommodation given the rates are now hitting the roof and most are running full.

Edit: found this news update on flights being added to check the soaring fares

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../117607108.cms

[jasraj_jog]

I am happy that sanitation and hygiene is taken care of. This is the always the most neglected part of suc events.

However, I still do not understand the traffic mess. The state govt knew in advance that this is a massive event. All varities of age groups will visit from across India or even aboard. They should do better.

Thanks
Jasraj

[autoweirdo]

Originally Posted by jasraj_jog

I am happy that sanitation and hygiene is taken care of. This is the always the most neglected part of suc events.

However, I still do not understand the traffic mess. The state govt knew in advance that this is a massive event. All varities of age groups will visit from across India or even aboard. They should do better.

Thanks
Jasraj

I guess traffic is still being managed nicely, Prayagraj is old city with narrow streets and cant be compared to metros. Currently its already handling crowd twice of its population and grows further more during shahi snans. With better roads I guess lot of people are preferring personal transport as trains and flights are already packed to brim. As in earlier posts too it was mentioned, patience is the key so lets enjoy the moment.

[TheSMG]

Hello Everyone,

I am planning to visit Prayagraj for the Mahakumbh around 15 or 17 February, preferably by driving from Ahmedabad. Can anyone suggest me better road for the travel. Google maps is showing 2 options, both are more or less the same distance and time. However, the one with better roads would be preferred. Since it would be a 2 days drive, can you please suggest a place for a night stopover on the route.

1. Ahmedabad-Kota-Shivpuri-Jhansi-Kanpur-Prayagraj (Distance: 1280 km)
2. Ahmedabd-Ujjain-Katni-Rewa-Prayagraj

Thanks,
SMG

[gnome]

Taking shower in tent bathroom after holy bath doesn't sound right Good work by admin - maintaining cleanliness with such crowds is not easy.

[Gaur]

My father along with his group is currently in Prayagraj, he has visited almost all the kumbh melas in the past 25-30yrs but says never seen such crowd and management.

People are literally pouring in from all around, tomorrow will be the real test of the administration, hoping no untoward incident happens.

He says some basic mismanagement still going on, primarily related to sudden closure of certain roads, people walk for many kms and reaching there they find out the route is closed, some VIP's also causing trouble.

I had visited Prayagraj on 1st january and the city and sangam felt like a mela and could feel some energy, i can only imagine how it would be at this moment.

[redcruiser]

Any leads on accommodation please. I plan to go to the Kumbh in the last week to the cutoff date i.e Shivratri day.
I can't figure out a proper plan where to book accommodation. I and my friends family are planning to drive from BLR to Prayagraj or nearby places.