Instant Megalopolis

Elastic urban design Superbly instantaneous Reusable infrastructure Urban metabolism

- Rahul Mehrotra, Felipe Vera, Stefano Andreani

Erected in just three months, the Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest ephemeral metropolis and a good example of elastic urban design

“If you want to get close to God, you have to walk,” says 63-year-old Devi Prasad who has trekked hundreds of miles on foot from his village in the state of Bihar to bathe at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. This man is one of more than 120 million pilgrims and tourists participating in the largest public congregation in the world — the Kumbh Mela. An event celebrated every three years in four different locations in rotation and every 12 years in Allahabad (Purna Kumbh Mela), this Hindu religious festival takes place where, according to legend, drops of the Amrit – the sacred nectar of immortality – were spilled from an urn (kumbh) being fought over by gods and demons. For the 2019 edition, the city of Allahabad (now officially known as Prayagraj) is hosting the mega event, with myriads of Hindu devotees travelling from across India and beyond.

An intense flow of people is the defining feature of this event. Crowds of 10 to 30 million people arrive in 24-hour cycles on the six main bathing dates, between 15 January and 4 March, often after waiting days for their opportunity to bathe for a few seconds. To accommodate this massive human gathering, a temporary settlement is deployed in just three months, taking the shape of a proper urban environment – with over 300 km of streets, nearly two dozen pontoon bridges, thousands of cotton tents and venues for spiritual meetings as well as social infrastructures such as hospitals and vaccination clinics. It is, in effect, the biggest ephemeral city in the world!