Pavitr nadiyon mein snan karne se shareer ki urja badhti hai (a dip in the holy water can boost energy), Muskan Raghuvanshi, a cultural, spiritual orator and a traveller, said in one of her Instagram posts on the ongoing Maha Kumbh. So far, she has created four videos and seven podcasts and the engagement rates have been like never before.
Also read: Maha Kumbh Mela 2025: Astrological Significance, and Zodiac Impact of This Once-in-144-Years Event
"I started with videos on what Maha Kumbh is and its benefits. Then, I visited Maha Kumbh and did podcasts. I was there for two days. I recorded around 5-7 podcasts. I made 3-4 videos. I continue to share posts. Engagement has been very high for content around Maha Kumbh. For me, it has been 90 percent higher engagement versus my regular posts," Raghuvanshi told Moneycontrol.
The Maha Kumbh is turning out to be a gold mine for influencers, with brands willing to shell out lakhs of rupees to draw in more consumers. The Maha Kumbh, a 45-day festival in the city of Pragyaraj, happens every 12 years. The unique planetary positioning of this year’s Kumbh makes it an extraordinary occurrence, repeating only once every 144 years. The event has attracted global names like Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of late Apple CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Steve Jobs along with Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, among others. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took a holy dip at Maha Kumbh in Sangam at Maha Kumbh.
Airfares too have skyrocketed as global and Indian citizens make a beeline for the spiritual experience.
Attracting attention across the globe, Maha Kumbh has turned out to be a major event for brands. And influencers with their engaging content have become a big draw for brands as they are shelling out twice the amount.
Content meets commerce
Top-tier influencers are charging 2-3x the usual rate for social media posts on the Kumbh, said Nahush Gulawani, Co-founder at Wit & Chai, an ad agency.
With reels and short-form videos leading the charge, some command upwards of Rs 10 lakh for a single post, he added.
Influencers with 100,000 following are charging Rs 15,000 for a post on Instagram, while those with 1 million followers are charging Rs 1-1.5 lakh for posts on Maha Kumbh. This is going up to Rs 2.5-4 lakh as there are not many influencers with a high following who create content around the event.
Given the prominence of the Maha Kumbh, influencers are commanding higher rates for related content, potentially increasing their earnings by 20-30 percent, compared to regular posts, noted Yasin Hamidani, Director, Media Care Brand Solutions.
"Influencers are monetising content around the Maha Kumbh by partnering with brands for sponsored posts. For instance, Amazon collaborated with influencers to showcase its box beds for devotees at the event. ITC engaged regional Instagram influencers to promote Bingo snacks, and Coca-Cola launched special edition packs, working with influencers to amplify their reach," he said.
Other brands like Dabur have set up Dabur Red Dant snaan zones, and Muthoot is giving lockers by setting up Muthoot Vishwas ki tijori (safety locker) at the Maha Kumbh.
Posts through which an influencer typically earns Rs 50,000 could fetch Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000 for the event.
"Reels and short videos, due to their engaging format, often command higher rates, with influencers charging a premium of 10-20 percent over standard image posts. Therefore, a reel that might usually cost Rs 55,000 is priced between Rs 60,500 and Rs 66,000 during the Maha Kumbh, depending on the influencer's niche, audience demographics, and the specific requirements of the brand collaboration," Hamidani said.
High engagement
A total of 40,000 influencers have talked about Maha Kumbh 2025 on social media, according to an analysis by Qoruz, an influencer marketing intelligence platform.
Instagram has recorded around 3,225 paid sponsored posts on Maha Kumbh so far.
Overall engagement rate for social media posts on Maha Kumbh is hovering around 5.8 percent, Qoruz data noted. Average engagement rates for content on social media on Maha Kumbh 2025 have increased by 40-50 percent, according to industry estimates.
"The traction is unreal. The traction around Kumbh-related posts is nothing short of extraordinary. Influencers like Larissa DSA and Anunay Sood beautifully blended spirituality with brand messaging, garnering millions of views and engagement. Larissa’s reel, showcasing her seamless journey through the Kumbh, received over 1 million views, while Anunay’s post, combining sacredness with storytelling, quickly went viral with similar numbers," noted Nahush Gulawani- Co-founder at Wit & Chai, an ad agency.
Vaibhav Gupta, Co-founder and CPO, KlugKlug, a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform for influencer marketing, shared that engagement rates are notably higher for nano influencers (those creators with 1,000-10,000 followers) at 202 percent while for micro-influencers (those with 10,000-50,000 followers), it is at 10.78 percent. For macro influencers (those with 500,000-1 million followers), it is around 3.74 percent.
While regional influencers are charging anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 9 lakh per post, depending on their following and other metrics, macro influencers are commanding Rs 5-30 lakh for integrated campaigns during Maha Kumbh.
"These rates are 20-40 percent higher than standard fees, reflecting the event's significance and audience engagement," Hamidani said.
Content creator’s dream
Content on Maha Kumbh has generated 547.91 million views with 380,000 comments and 9.07 million shares, Gupta noted.
There are influencers who have done Maha Kumbh content as IG (Instagram) series which gives audience a complete glimpse and energy of the Mahakumbh versus YouTubers who have made 2-3 episodic experience, noted Ramya Ramachandran, Founder & CEO, Whoppl, an influencer content management platform.
The Maha Kumbh 2025 could be touted as a content creator’s dream and an advertising goldmine, said Gulawani.
He highlighted how the Kumbh ad market has skyrocketed from Rs 1,500 crore in 2013 to Rs 4,500 crore in 2025, a 300 percent growth. "The true beneficiaries were influencers," he said.
Along with brands, the babas and akhara (ancient organisations of ascetics) at the Maha Kumbh are also vying for audience attention, for which they are spending big bucks with public relation spends to the tune of Rs 1 crore. Out of these, social media campaigns cost around Rs 30-40 lakh.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
