Maha Kumbh Biggest Planet Event (A Managerial Perspective)

By Ramesh Pokharial 'Nishank'

The Kumbh Mela (congregation), organized after every 12 years in four cities of India, Haridwar Ujjain, Nasik, Allahabad on the bank of sacred rivers Ganga, Shipra, Godavari, and confluence of Ganga and Yamuna respectively. This is the largest congregation of faith and can be considered as one of the biggest religious events on our planet earth. A dip in the holy river during this period is regarded as very auspicious and believed to purify one's soul and lead to the righteous path. The Mela begins on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti that falls on 14th January and draws to close around mid April. It draws millions of pilgrims over the course of this period including Ascetics, Saints, Sadhus, Sadhvis, Kalpvasis, and foreigners from various countries of the world. In the holy city of Hardwar, on the bank of sacred river Ganga, Kumbh Mela, was successfully organized in the year 2010. Managing millions of pilgrims in a small city was an arduous task due to geographical and other hurdles. As a Chief Minister of State Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" was instrumental in organizing the event successfully. The success of Haridwar Kumbh congregation was highly appreciated on various fronts and won several accolades including a nomination for the prestigious Nobel prize. Taking cognizance of the repeated demands from India, UNESCO has declared Kumbh congregation as a world cultural heritage event that is attended by millions of believers of Hindu faith in disciplined and peaceful manner. For this reason, Kumbh 2010 came into the limelight once again, when people were overwhelmed with joy at the sensitivity of the "Nishank" Government to facilitate their needs. This book is inspired by a lecture in ISB Hyderabad where the students, faculty, and the director unanimously vouched for the idea that the story of this festival and its management should see the light of the day and be known to the whole world. Organizing this mega event required various innovative measures and enormous strategic planning and the same need to been shared. The idea is that this present book on the managerial perspective of the Kumbh will benefit all those interested in India's glorious traditions and will be fruitful for all the stakeholders who are involved in organizing mega-events like Kumbh.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diamond Books
• Release date: Jun 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9789355991324

Book preview

Preface

Kumbh Mela, in the holy city of Hardwar, was successfully conducted in the year 2010. As a Chief Minister of State, I got congratulatory messages for the successful event from the different countries at that time and continued receiving them for many years. For the successful conduct, Kumbh was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize.

However, a plan to write a book on experience of the management of Kumbh emerged after I interacted with the academic world. At the time of the lecture in ISB Hyderabad, the students, faculty, and the director unanimously vouched for the idea that the story of this festival and its management should come in front of the whole world. During my stay at the different Business Schools, I had a significant discussion on the Kumbh with the faculty there, and the crux of the matter was that a book on Kumbh Management as would publish so that people planning these types of mega-events can get help.

Moreover, in the past, after an impending demand for years, UNESCO declared Kumbh as a world cultural heritage. For this reason, Kumbh 2010 came into limelight once again, when people expressed their happiness at the success of our mission.

For all these reasons, this present book on the managerial perspective of the Kumbh has seen the light of the day. I realize that since while arranging for the organization of Kumbh, some innovative measures were taken, it was shared with all stakeholders.

Maha Kumbh: A managerial perspective

The same situation emerged during Kumbh as well. It was ensured the best use of resources available through continuous planning, organization, coordination, direction, and control of our human efforts.

With following objectives, the managing process of Kumbh Mela had initiated:

To arrange an excellent experience for the world by organizing a festival of unique peace and spiritualism.

To come out clean on the people’s expectations of organizing a Kumbh with mutual coordination while using the best of human resources, financial resources, and other physical resources.

Protecting the resources while avoiding any type of pollution and to ensure that all people receive spiritual experience following superior secular traditions.

I think the successful management of Kumbh Mela 2010 was the result of the effective coordination among various activities, stakeholders, and institutions. This was a collective effort for paving the way for achieving various objectives through joint efforts, dedicating maximum results to the efforts and resources. I am happy to recount the fact that even after 10 years of Kumbh, the people in India and abroad have a strong impression of its success. Local people, journalists, scientists, monks and saints, media people, diplomats, even foreigners have in more occasion than one has asked me about the secret behind the successful organization of Kumbh. With utmost humility, I maintain one thing that I have discharged my duties honestly.

I believe that this festival of happiness and its success could be possibly organized only with the grace of Sri Badri Vishaal and Mother Ganges. The time, conditions, and organization associates have been my most prominent teacher. Regarding the management of Kumbh, I can say this all together that where leadership is essential, we have succeeded in awakening the mobility of subordinated employees. .

I am trying to bring some such experiences felt by our team. It is obligatory on my part to pronounce the essential experiments in any such kind of event to be used in a better manner. First, by analyzing the crowded places by the scientists of Indian Space Resarch Organization and Uttarakhand Space Utilization Centers, an action plan for better allocation of resources was made. The best part is that the Chief Minister was in the center while coordinating with different offices. My consultant Dr. Rajesh Naithani was coordinating on behalf of the Chief Minister with the Secretariat, while my special executive Dr. Ashok Kumar Sharma was asked to set up the office in Haridwar. We established an excellent media center, to provide accurate information to pilgrims who flocked to Kumbh from thousands of miles away. In the past, information was given about this center, but again in front of conscientious readers, I want to ascertain that we established a center that worked 24 hours a day, a center that was connected through the internet so that people could send information to their homes in addition to the updates of Kumbh. This kind of knowledge in more and more languages was made available to people who spoke different languages to avoid language-related problems.

Kumbh Mela in itself is a big event management. Dr.  Krishna Aromili, Director of Chicago Stuart Business School, was amazed to see the tens of millions of people who came to the observance of the Kumbh in Hardwar. Dr. Aromili, before joining Chicago, has worked as Dean in a reputed Nanyung Business School in Singapore. Though, he was familiar with the socio-religious festivals of Asia and especially Indian subcontinent but even then, the large-scale organization of the Indian culture, Indian values, by adopting a dip of faith in the holy Ganges during Kumbh, where people flocked from the corner of the world was amazing for him.

Due to his experience of the management in Singapore, the management gurus from the Harvard University recognized Kumbh as the world’s largest festival, which is undoubtedly a matter of pride for all Indians. Academicians at Harvard wrote that in the tradition followed for centuries, hundreds of millions of people spend a few weeks on the banks of holy rivers. According to them, Kumbh is a powerful medium of expression towards the faith of millions of people. I am supportive of Harvard’s continuing research on management. It is a matter of pleasure that this great festival of peace has attracted the attention of experts from top management from India and other foreign countries.

Harvard University has reiterated the importance of research on the organization of Kumbh, in areas of religious studies, public health, communication, business, infrastructure, and technology that are related to it. There is no doubt that research done on Kumbh will help in organizing every activity where people gather for different purposes at a particular place. The Harvard University has stressed on giving special attention to the study of temporary camps during the Kumbh and professing it as a Pop-up Megacity.

The Harvard research team raised a topic about the benefit that the government received from this fair. On objective purview, the successful organization of the fair itself was a prominent branding for a budding state like Uttarakhand. I believe that by organizing Kumbh, Uttarakhand has emerged as the yoga and spirituality capital at the international level. Even after spending hundreds of millions, it is difficult to get such branding. Somewhere, all the Indian companies who connected with Kumbh were benefited from this.

The second question was about the use of technology. Hence, using better technology in a process to establish a balance between its temporary and sustainable organization as a consistent and stress-free festival is a massive task in itself. Internet, alternative energy systems like solar energy, regular testing of Ganga water, online communication, drinking water, and the water of the Ganges, where the use of science and technology has succeeded in making the international event like the Kumbh successful. In synchronization with the meteorological department, we designed temporary camps, made arrangement of proper water for bathing and its management. The water testing was done not only to make its water available for drinking but also to ensure pure water for bathing for people so that there is no adverse effect on the situation and the fish and other river organisms are also not affected. According to the survey, Haridwar area, which is connected to Rajaji Park, thousands of vehicles pass through that area in a span of few hours. Special efforts were made to prevent any harm to wild animals. With great pride, I want to share this that no damage of any kind, during the Kumbh, occurred to any animal. Any type of noise pollution as a widespread hazard was taken care of, and its prevention was implemented.

Citing the religious management of Kumbh, Harvard University has considered the challenge of establishing coordination between pilgrims coming from various social backgrounds. Special efforts were made to avoid differences in a relationships between tourists, press, and active administration. At the chief minister’s level, all the top spiritual leaders resolved many problems with constant review meetings. There was a challenge in that on the one hand, we had to create a mass residential system for everyone with water, management, internet, public rest room, cellphone, food distribution system, medical care and control of the crowd, and on the other hand allocating safe hubs for discourses at different places. The biggest challenge was to make all the arrangements in a manner that no religious sentiments are hurt.

With a unique structure, it was to ensure that all the locations in public transport were added in such a way that easy access to traffic could be made possible. The biggest challenge of this big event was that people do not fall ill due to the garbage and the infection of dirt. In such a small place and with so many people around, the disposal of garbage is a challenge. Yagas are organized at large level in Kumbh. In these yagas, there is not only an issue of smoke with havan, but also the problem of noise pollution in addition to it also appears. To make proper arrangements of dry logs, ration and other materials, and make arrangements for it to reach yagya destinations provides a good example of logistics management.

Regarding the private sector and to establish a balance between government participation, it is necessary to say that the successful organizing of such a significant event cannot be successful without the participation of the private sector. Several tasks were completed in PPP. The best part was that before we inducted the private sector into this grand event, we adopted a fully transparent tender process to give an equal chance to all possible parties. To ensure a responsible operation, highly trained monitoring was established. The best part was that the third party’s supervision was arranged through an audit whose main goal was to establish all-round quality. Regular meetings were organized at my level and with my subordinates in order to establish a cordial atmosphere within social and political relations and from all the people’s representatives. It has benefited us to the extent that there was no standoff between officials and social organizations anywhere.

As far as the branding of companies is concerned, companies have the advantage of branding at Kumbh Mela. Millions of people see their advertisements, in addition to this, various companies under their CSR scheme came forward with many important tasks. In this, many companies for cleaning camps, health camps, information centers, mobile medical vehicles, drinking water facilities, etc. made free arrangements. Indeed, Harvard University suggested research on engineering activities during Kumbh, particularly on the construction of the bridges, the impact of the environment due to the construction work, and ensuring the safety of all the people on top of the earth. Fortunately, we had such skilled engineers and artisans in various construction agencies, whose work was able to get permanent work of up to 70 percent due to their hard work. Primarily, there was an emphasis on temporary construction during the Kumbh, but for the first time, we have given full attention to developing the area’s infrastructure.

Review meetings between the Heads of different agencies were definitely very beneficial whether it was related to talking about immunization of people coming from abroad, whether it was a question of providing facilities or whether it was a matter of shifting severely hurt people to the hospital or using motorcycles as an emergency vehicle through narrow lanes. Everywhere, the safety of the devotees was predominantly significant for us.

Kumbh’s nomination for Nobel Prize

When we were talking about nominating Kumbh for the Nobel Prize, a journalist asked me that when Kumbh is organized and accomplished in four places of the country then what kind of specialty do you think is in Kumbh 2010, that it was nominated for the Nobel Prize. I then started counting the accomplishments of Kumbh now, through the book I share these things and reiterate that the festival of Kumbh should get due respect for its best organization.

The Uttarakhand state was just nine years old when road map for preparations for Kumbh started and all those tasks were taken to the ground, which was directly related to the success of Kumbh.

Organizing the world’s largest festival of Maha Kumbh with limited financial and human resources was not a small issue. It was a big challenge to successfully implement this comprehensive task in comparison to a state like Uttar Pradesh, which is a complete nation in itself.

Data shows that twice the population of Uttarakhand reaches Haridwar on a single day and takes a bath; hence, maintaining harmony and peace was a big challenge for us.

The crowd of crores was to be controlled with the help of just a few thousand police forces, and they also without any use of force. This was no ordinary one. Our police forces did not have enough material.

Ganga is not only a center of faith for Hindus but also different religions of the world. There was a strong potential for ideological, religious differences. However, due to our security system, in this four-month period of Kumbh, there has not been any spark of violence. It was not normal.

On the day of the Shahi Snan, coordination was created with all the Akharas and devotees in Har ki Paidee and surrounding areas. More than one crore 60 lakh people bathed at one place and at one time together, and wished for world peace. This was no ordinary achievement.

Despite the shortage of resources in small states, even the devotees did not have to say where we should stop. For that, we had arranged tents for several kilometers so that there is no inconvenience to the devotees coming from faraway places.

The adjoining areas of mela, whether Rishikesh, Roorkee, and the area near Najibabad, the security agencies were stationed with instructions everywhere, so that no anti-social elements may even think of making disturbing. As I mentioned, many terrorist organizations had threatened us.

Anyway, the people of Haridwar did not suffer any inconvenience from anywhere, whether traffic, education, health, or electricity.

By ensuring participation of more than 140 countries, our aquarium accomplishes absolutely in every criterion of world peace, harmony, love, goodwill, faith, and religion. That is why I said so, and keeping my point firmly, and I take the initiative again that Kumbh was nominated for the Nobel Prize and were selected.

Demand for declaring global heritage

We demanded to declare this festival of most immense humanity as a cultural heritage by the United Nations. Apart from Kumbh, we have been engaged for years in the campaign to declare Ganga as a World Heritage site. The Government of India and other agencies have also made constant efforts in this direction. Finally, UNESCO has declared Kumbh as Global Cultural Heritage.

I recollect the cover story published by the Project Management Institute on Kumbh 2010. The title of the story was the appropriate fusion of planning, teamwork, and dedication. In his article, the author wrote that the security facility of more than 80 million pilgrims was not fulfilled only with divine blessings but also with exemplary project management, which proved to be the real decisive trial for the state government.

Caught in a dire situation where there was an acute shortage of human resources, the absence of technological advancement, poor economic conditions, and scarce security workers, still this Kumbh was successful because of the sense of dedication and implementation of basic principles of management.

Many times, I reflect on how this humongous task could be possible. Where did that capacity come from? Interviewers also often ask about this mammoth feat and its vast organization. I believe that I have done my duty instinctively. After the successful completion of Kumbh, when we got together on the banks of Mother Ganges, I expressed my solemn gratitude to God by taking Ganga water in my hand in all piousness related to tradition. I experienced an unknown thrill, and unwittingly my eyes became moist. With the feeling of gratitude, standing on the banks of the Mother Ganges, I accredited the successful organization of Maha Kumbh to Mother Ganges. I knew that the world’s largest Maha Kumbh of sacrifice, of divine power, surrender, and success of the religion could be achieved devoid of any snag only with the blessings of the Mother Ganges.

After the Maha Kumbh was over, on several occasions, representatives, management gurus, and media professionals have recurrently tried to know from me that how a small state like Uttrakhand could manage to organize an auspicious festival of a global level. During the Maha Kumbh, how did the state government coordinate with various State Governments and devotees coming from the remote areas of the country? How was the coordination of the security forces coming from different states in a large number assured?

Until date, the prevalent query that has been probed and questioned to me is that when today there are hours of traffic jam in every major street and markets in the country, then why there was no traffic jam anywhere during the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar? How did the pilgrim city of Uttarakhand with a total population of ten million, manage and control the millions of devotees coming from the corners of the country at the same time? How was the plotting of terrorists prepared for the Maha Kumbh wasted? During the Maha Kumbh, how were arrangements for food and drinking were made, and cleaning and sewer arrangements maintained for millions of people in Haridwar? Despite the lack of resources, how the overall plan conceived for the piers, the security, lost and found, and the management of the medical facilities for the people? How were the arrangements made for the media workers coming from abroad?

I have been far from management per se; neither have I ever been a student of management, nor have I had any kind of expertise in this regard. As a follower of RSS(Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh), I have learned only one thing- to help our peers, to help them with selflessness, develop their abilities, motivate them to achieve their goals, encourage them to be better and better, to overcome difficulties in achieving good results, and resolving differences between peers.

In this Maha Kumbh, people, tourists, and media workers from over a hundred countries of the world participated in this world’s largest event of faith and spirituality. The Ambassador of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, to my surprise, came to give me best wishes. When I gifted an urn filled with the water from the Ganges to him, he accepted the Gangajal (the water from the Ganges) gratefully. As per him, Ganga is respectable even for the people of Indonesia. Messages for the successful organization of Kumbh kept pouring from different corners of the world. England, United States, Japan, Korea, Australia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, and France, published journals and electronic media of my interview, and thoroughly commended for the successful event. My concern was that the public should not suffer any discomfort in the quantum. For this, I sent a personal message. I made a special request to all the dignitaries that given the security, we will not be able to give them a particular facility so that the safety of the ordinary pilgrims during Kumbh in caboodle does not suffer.

As the Chief Minister of the state, many times, I went to the Kumbh Mela premises without any security cover. Approximately, on four to five occasions, to test the overall arrangements for pilgrims and inter-departmental coordination for the Kumbh, mostly during late hours of midnight. At one point, I left the government vehicle at a distance, and in disguise went there so that no one could recognize me and could get the feedback from the ground zero directly. Many times, I left the site with necessary instructions as a hint for the police administration about the self-defense and safety officials, and many times informed them through my mobile. Naturally, they did not believe in the first and were discreetly surprised about the initiative measures. However, they executed the planning as per my working style.

Through this approch, I wanted to send this message across to the administration that I would continue reaching anywhere, anyhow, for a surprise inspection. The working style of mine was beneficial in the overall execution of the security arrangements, to maintain provisions of the medical facility and the Ganga Piers. During that time, it was essential to take all measures and erase all the possible threats to Maha Kumbh and the potential dangers of its failure.

At that time, considering the pressure of the Maha Kumbh and the imminent dangers of its failure, it was essential to do all this. Later, when Maha Kumbh was reviewed, it was heartwarming to know that the high officials of the administration would stay alert every moment for the impending fear of the Chief Minister either keeping track of their performance or watching them perform in person. Every effort of mine will prove to be a milestone for organizing the success of Kumbh, and I feel delighted about that it. When on the night of the main bath, when I went there in disguise with my wife, I sensed enormous contentment when I came across everyone passionately engaged with his or her responsibility. As soon as a Chhattisgarh police official recognized me, he took me aside from the crowd. His apprehensions were not dumbfounded for had the public known the presence of the Chief Minister of the state in disguise; it would have led to unnecessary commotion and panic. According to him, the security of the Chief Minister was also their responsibility along with that of the devotees. Krishna Ae Ramlali, director of Chicago-based Management College, USA, who came to meet me after the Maha Kumbh, asked me how could such a big success in limited resources was conducted. Their curiosity was not dumb founded as controlling the crowd of millions in one place is a challenging task in itself. . It was by the grace of God, and my ultimate fortune was that the Kumbh 2010 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Many countries, including Thailand, Uganda, South Africa, USA, Mauritius, Nepal, and Germany, commenced the initiative of honoring Maha Kumbh with the Nobel Prize. Although Kumbh may not have received Nobel, I am satisfied that the world’s top countries have appreciated this work and have vouched for its nomination for the world’s top prize. This was an excellent achievement in my life. When we were taking the initiative to