Planes, trains and roads: Crowds swell in season of Kumbh - not just in Prayagraj

It is an event that organisers spend years to set up, given the sheer scale of visitors it attracts.

- Kenneth John and Neha LM Tripathi

But authorities at the Maha Kumbh are struggling to handle a rising tide of devotees inundating Prayagraj this week, leaving the mela grounds packed far beyond capacity and ensuring that systems put meticulously in place are stretched to the limit.

The deluge ahead of the most auspicious day of the 45-day spectacle, Mauni Amavasya on Tuesday, has sent air and train fares zooming, and even spilled over across other religious towns, forcing authorities at the Ram Temple in faraway Ayodhya to issue appeals to people to defer their visits.

The administration at the Maha Kumbh, elated and inundated at the same time, admitted on Tuesday that matters were now out of their hands.

"We have done our best and the rest is in the hands of Maa Gange (the river goddess). We are humans and have put in place the best of arrangements possible for an expected record turnout of 80 million to 100 million for a single event in a single day. Now, the rest is up to Bade Hanumanji," said Vivek Chaturvedi, additional district magistrate (Maha Kumbh).

Roughly 80 million people are likely to take the dip at the holy Sangam spot on Wednesday. This surge has left the grounds packed, the pontoon bridges groaning, and police struggling to keep queues and erect barricades.

The reverberations of the crowding are being felt even 160km away in Ayodhya.