Sabse maha kumbh mela: A curtain-raiser

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Sabse maha kumbh mela: A curtain-raiser

The world’s largest religious gathering is underway in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh—and will last until February 26. Here’s everything you need to know about this mega-mela.

The mythology: The Mela’s origins can be traced to the Puranas. The story goes that the gods and demons fought over a ‘kumbh’ (vessel) containing amrit (elixir of life). As they tussled, the amrit spilled across four locations: Haridwar, Allahabad/Prayagraj, Nashik and Ujjain—and the Kumbh Mela alternates between these sacred pilgrimage sites. Devotees believe that during the Mela, the rivers turn into amrit—and bathing in them is therefore highly auspicious.

The last Kumbh Mela: was held in Haridwar in 2021—amid the second wave of the pandemic. In fact, it was held a year ahead of schedule for political reasons. Unsurprisingly, the whole affair was a massive superspreader:

There were 1.2 million daily visitors to Haridwar
3.1 million bathed in the river Ganga in a single day on April 12
2,000 tested Covid positive in Haridwar between April 10 and 14
There was an 1800% increase in Covid cases in Uttarakhand during the Mela.

All this and more explained in this Big Story.

Fast forward to 2025: At least 5 million are expected to bathe in the Ganga on day one, and that number may soon shoot up to 20 million! The event will kick off with the traditional Shahi Snan (they haven’t renamed this?!) today—on the banks of the holy Sangam, where the three rivers (Ganga, Jamuna and Sarasvati) meet.

But, but, but: Basic logistics are still a mess:

To accommodate the pilgrims and tourists, a vast tent city, spread over 4,000 hectares, has been set up on the banks of the river. But on Sunday, just hours before proceedings were due to begin, many parts of the sprawling grounds in Prayagraj still appeared to be a work in progress. Some of the camps set up by saints and other worshippers had no water and intermittent power supplies. Thousands of toilet cubicles were still yet to be set up and many already installed were unusable because of missing water connections.

Political sideshows: Unsurprisingly, the festival offers excellent opportunities for political PR. UP CM Yogi Adityanath has deployed a fleet of LED vans “crisscrossing almost every district of Uttar Pradesh, displaying the chief minister’s pictures and scenes from the Mahakumbh area.” Far more worrying and wasteful: Yogi’s plan to shower 20 quintals of rose petals over 4,000 hectares—on key snan days.

Coming soon: The double A gang—as in Ambanis and Adanis—who will be in prominent attendance. Gautam-bhai’s presence is already visible at the mela:

The Adani group has tied up with Iskcon to distribute “mahaprasadam” among the devotees every day. On Friday, it announced on X that it had signed an agreement with the Geeta Press to print and distribute 1 crore copies of the Aarti Sangrah at the Mela. “Our selfless service and responsibility towards religion-culture is a form of nationalism, to which we all are devoted,” Gautam Adani wrote in Hindi.

No Muslims allowed: Muslim vendors aren’t allowed to ply their trade at the mela—the sadhu in-charge believes that they “spit on the food deliberately” and “corrupt our religion”.

Reading list: Deccan Herald has excellent pics of the always flamboyant naga sadhus making their grand entry. BBC News has the report on the mela. Indian Express has more on what to expect. The Reuters video report captures the scale of the event.

LA fires: The latest update

The context: Los Angeles has been reeling from a series of wildfires that broke out on Tuesday. The fires are located in four major suburbs. The biggest and most devastating is in the Pacific Palisades, which is one of LA’s fanciest neighbourhoods. We covered the climate change angle here.

Where we are now: Over the weekend, the two big blazes—Eaton and Palisades—have spread to 37,000 acres (145 square km)—which is two and a half times the size of Manhattan. The big picture:

The combined area burned by the past week’s fires — nearly 40,000 acres, according to Los Angeles County officials — is larger than each of the city limits of San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston or Miami. Together, the Eaton and Palisades fires have damaged more than 12,000 “structures,” which can refer to houses, but also cars and outbuildings.

The latest death toll: is 24. Of these 16 were killed in Eaton—making it one of the deadliest fires in California history. The numbers are expected to rise. California Governor Gavin Newsom predicts this will be the worst natural disaster in US history.

The wind factor: The fires have only been partially contained—11% of the Palisades fire and 27% of the Eaton fire. But those dreaded Santa Ana winds are expected to pick up again—and city officials say “the fire threat in Los Angeles County [is] very high”—urging residents to be ready for more evacuations. More than 100,000 residents are still under evacuation orders. You can see where things are in the map below:

Why are we here? So why haven’t the fires been contained yet—in a city with the largest firefighting force in the nation? The key factors, according to experts: “urban sprawl, a resistance to clearing vegetation around homes, and a water system that’s not designed to combat multiple major blazes at once.” In fact, a number of the fire hydrants ran dry—raising questions and outrage.

But, but, but: It is also clear that LA homes were not built for climate change—as in, scorching dry heat accompanied by strong winds:

Some of the most desirable homes in the Palisades were built high on bluffs or in steep canyons that run from the mountains to the ocean. “The houses are perfectly aligned with the direction of the prevailing Santa Ana winds,” Lunder said… “It is too late after the city is built to think about this stuff.” Managing the grasses, bushes and shrubs on these hillsides is “physically impossible” Lunder said. “You would have to send someone down on rope with a chainsaw like an African honey collector to cut the brush.”

Something to see: You can see dramatic images of the pink fire retardant being used to put out the flames—New York Times (or this Indian Express curation) explains why it’s controversial.

Reading list: Washington Post (login needed) has more on this angle. New York Times has the latest on its live blog. TIME reports on the failed fire hydrants. A good read: New Yorker flags the home insurance crisis that will follow the LA fire disaster—important for all home owners around the world to consider in this era of global warming.

Meta’s shameful content-stealing strategy

Meta’s legal battle over its AI training practices just took a dramatic and embarrassing turn. In July 2023, comedian Sarah Silverman and authors Richard Kadrey, and Christopher Golden filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Meta. The judge in the case has now unsealed documents—including information that the company wanted redacted (i.e. hidden from public view).

The reason: They show Meta employees using content downloaded using torrent sites—specifically Library Genesis (LibGen)—a notorious online library that distributes pirated books. Worse, employee communications make it clear that they knew it was illegal—with one person remarking:

If there is media coverage suggesting we have used a dataset we know to be pirated, such as LibGen, this may undermine our negotiating position with regulators on these issues.

There’s also evidence of Zuck himself giving the greenlight: “The filing cites a memo, referring to Mark Zuckerberg’s initials, noting that ‘after escalation to MZ’, Meta’s AI team ‘has been approved to use LibGen’.”

It gets worse: Some of the testimony suggests that Meta deliberately “seeded” pirated files of copyrighted material in these torrent sites. The reason: The company has consistently cited “public availability” of illegal datasets as a defence in copyright lawsuits. Think about that for a moment: Meta deliberately uploads a copyrighted book to LibGen—so it can use its presence on LibGen as a reason to steal that content coz ‘everyone’s doing it, dude!’. Wired has the latest developments of the case, but it’s paywalled. The Guardian has a less detailed version of the same.

Sticking with AI: A new World Economic Forum jobs report offers a rare upbeat prediction on the impact of AI. It estimates that machine learning will indeed destroy millions of jobs—of legal clerks and graphic designers alike. But overall, it will result in a net gain of 78 million jobs by 2030. The catch: These will be jobs that require specific AI skills: “AI and big data expertise, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy as the three most in-demand skill sets.” FYI: Mark Zuckerberg just shared his plans to replace mid-level software engineers with AI at Meta. (Ars Technica)

what caught our eye

business & tech

In continued Meta mania, it is scrapping its DEI programs and hiring goals, citing changing US legal and policy landscapes.

sports & entertainment

Bong Joon Ho’s highly anticipated sci-fi film Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson, will have its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, ahead of its global release in March 2025.

as for the rest

Scary stuff—Delhi LG has authorised Delhi Police officers to issue "takedown orders" to social media companies to remove illegal content under the Information Technology Act.
The last four minutes are missing from Jeju Airlines’ flight recorder. Reminder: that’s the Korean airline that crashed earlier this month killing 179.
Ousted president, Yoon Suk Yeol, will skip his impeachment trial hearing due to safety concerns.
Ukraine captures two North Korean soldiers in Kursk region, marking a first live capture since the country’s involvement in the war last autumn.
Talk about a serious case of over-spending—the world’s richest 1% have already blown their 2025 carbon budget in just 10 days.
Calcutta tops the TomTom Traffic Index 2024 as India’s most congested city, with Bengaluru and Pune joining it in the world’s top five gridlocked urban centers.
The Catholic Church now allows gay men to train as priests—but only if they remain celibate…
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum had the perfect rebuttal for Trump—suggesting the US be called 'Mexican America’.
A recent study has found that the skin of milkfish could be a cost-effective and eco-friendly option for treating serious wounds in poorer areas, just like tilapia or cod.
Utah’s Great Salt Lake is rapidly drying up. Scientists blame agriculture, according to new research.

Three things to see

One: After a scary crash during a practice session earlier last week, the Tamil superstar Ajith Kumar and his team secured third place in the 991 category at the prestigious 24H Dubai 2025 endurance race over the weekend. The actor also got the Spirit of the Race recognition in the GT4 category. Watch a clip of him celebrating the win with the tiranga below. (The Hindu)

Two: Nope this isn’t the Moon—but the far more distant Mercury! This image was captured by the spacecraft BepiColombo which is part of a joint mission between Europe and Japan. Gizmodo has all the nerdy deets on the mission.

Three: Forget Blinkit, a group of friends in Goa got an airdrop delivery of a lighter—from a paraglider. Like smokers need encouragement lol! (Mint)

feel good place

One: True story: “a random couple ran into Keanu Reeves in a hotel lobby, invited him to their wedding, and he put on a suit and joined in.” (more here)