How did UP count pilgrims at Maha Kumbh 2025? Yogi Adityanath answers the big question

Yogi Adityanath

In an exclusive interview to news agency ANI, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath outlinig the number of devotees who attended the just concluded the Maha Kumb festival in Prayagraj, elaborated on the methods used by his administration to arrive at the exact figure.

Elaborating on the f , the CM said: "More than 64.3 crore devotees took a holy dip during 45-day Maha Kumbh. We had installed CCTV cameras there. We conducted head counting using AI tools. We also made sure that no person is not counted twice in 24 hours. There was a system of face recognition and head counting. After every 24 hours, the final data was prepared. For that, we constituted an integrated centre through which all these things were monitored..."

During his interaction with news agency ANI, the CM expressed optimism that this Maha Kumbh would be remembered as a confluence of faith and modernity, leaving an indelible mark on the state's cultural and spiritual identity. The Maha Kumbh was held at Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26 and saw over 66 crore devotees take the ritual bath at the Sangam in Prayagraj.

Yogi Adityanath further said that the Maha Kumbh has silenced those who made negative comments about Sanatana Dharma or alleged discrimination at the event. “Those who used to say there was discrimination, those who made negative remarks about Sanatana Dharma, or claimed that there was discrimination between men and women-Maha Kumbh has shut them up,” Yogi Adityanath said.

Highlighting the unity fostered by the event, he said, “Everybody took a bath at one Sangam, the differences between rich and poor, between castes, between regions and languages were all erased. This was for the people of India and for the world.”