1954 Kumbh Mela stampede was a stampede that occurred in 1954 at Kumbha Mela on 3 February 1954 in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh state in India. It was main bathing day of Mauni Amavasya (New Moon), when the incident took place, and during the festival 4-5 million pilgrims had taken part that year, which was also the first Kumbh Mela after the Independence.[1]
The figures for the tragedy varied according to different sources. While The Guardian reported more than 800 people dead and over 100 injured,[2] the TIME reported "no fewer than 350 people were trampled to death and drowned, 200 were counted missing, and over 2,000 were injured".[3] According to the book Law and Order in India over 500 were dead.[4]
The Kumbh Mela has traditionally been used by politicians to connect with mass gather of Indian populace prior to the India's Independence, and as this was the first Kumbh Mela after the Independence, many leading politicians had visited the city during the event, which goes for over 40 days. What compounded the failure of crowd control measures, over 5 million pilgrims visit Allahabad during the festival, was not just the presence of large number of politicians,[1][4] but also the fact that the Ganges River has changed course and moved in closer to the Bund (embankment) and the city, reducing the available space of the temporary Kumbh township and movement of the people.[5] Ultimately what triggered the tragedy was that surge of crowd broke the barriers to witness a procession of sadhus and holy men of various akharas, which ended up in a stampede.[6]
After the event, Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru suggested that politicians and VIPs may not visit the Mela,[1] who were all but exonerate along with the government after the inquiry of any wrong doing.[7] The judicial inquiry commission, set up after what was one of worst stampedes in India, was headed by Justice Kamala Kant Verma, and its recommendation became the basis of better management for future Kumbh in the coming decades, where this tragedy stood as grim reminder to Mela planners and district administration.[5] The subsequent Kumbh Mela organization remained event free after that, and grew considerable in size, so much so that around 60 million people took part in 2001 Kumbh Mela, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world.[8][9][10]
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