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High above the millions of Hindu pilgrims walking the grounds of the Maha Kumbh Mela, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India beams down from giant billboards and posters as far as the eye can see. Elsewhere, there are life-size cutouts of the leader, luminous at night, with his hands folded in greeting.<\/p>\n
The Maha Kumbh, a spiritual festival widely considered the largest gathering of humanity, is taking place this year in the city of Prayagraj, where the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers meet. Hindus believe that a third, mythical river called the Saraswati joins them there. Throngs of devotees take a dip in the holy waters in the belief that doing so will purge them of sins and grant them salvation.<\/p>\n
It is a mesmerizing spectacle. There are ash-smeared monks, naked ascetics, priests with vermilion paste on their foreheads, ordinary pilgrims, tourists with selfie sticks, awe-struck foreigners, entertainers, small vendors and big advertisers. It is also a feat of urban planning, an overnight megalopolis built on land borrowed from the receding Ganges in the state of Uttar Pradesh, with tents, toilets, roads, streetlights and even automated ticket vending machines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
For Mr. Modi and his close ally Yogi Adityanath, the hard-line Hindu monk who is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the Maha Kumbh provides a marketing opportunity like no other. It is a platform to show off India\u2019s achievements \u2014 and therefore their own \u2014 before a rapt citizenry and a watching world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The political sensitivity of the event was apparent this past week when 30 pilgrims died and 90 were injured in a stampede, according to official counts. Mr. Adityanath appeared to try to minimize the episode<\/a>, as it took him nearly 15 hours to acknowledge that people had died and to provide a death toll.<\/p>\n Mr. Modi expressed grief and offered help, but otherwise kept a distance from the tragic news. For him, the Kumbh represents an important opportunity to advertise himself as the man who will transform India into a well-governed, efficient, tech-savvy and business-friendly heavyweight.<\/p>\n A positive picture of the festival also helps Mr. Modi, a Hindu nationalist, to satisfy a desire among his right-wing base to promote a glorious Hindu cultural and religious past.<\/p>\n Mr. Modi \u201cis someone who has mixed religion and politics, religion and state,\u201d said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, an author who has followed the rise of the Hindu right as it has sought to uproot the secular foundation laid down by India\u2019s Constitution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Keenly aware of the importance of image, Mr. Modi has enhanced his power by projecting himself not only as a political leader, but also as the caretaker of Hindu traditions. He is both the prime minister and \u201cthe head priest of Hinduism in the entire country\u201d performing rituals familiar to many Hindus in public settings, Mr. Mukhopadhyay said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Modi is expected to take his holy dip at the Maha Kumbh on Wednesday, the same day that the capital, New Delhi, holds regional elections. The media spotlight on him that day will spill over to his Bharatiya Janata Party as it contests the election.<\/p>\n Mr. Adityanath has been equally active in seeking political advantage from the spiritual event.<\/p>\n Last month, Mr. Adityanath, who has been seen at times as a potential successor to Mr. Modi, held a special cabinet meeting for state ministers in Prayagraj. There, they announced infrastructure projects and bathed at the confluence of the rivers \u2014 yet another sign, Mr. Mukhopadhyay said, of the increasingly blurred lines between religion and state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A week later, after the stampede, Mr. Adityanath worked to spin the disaster as showcasing the prowess of the Maha Kumbh\u2019s rescue operations.<\/p>\n The Kumbh Mela and other ritual bathing events have been around for centuries. Hindu legend holds that when gods and demons fought over a pitcher, or \u201ckumbh,\u201d of the nectar of immortality, the gods spilled drops in four places \u2014 each an Indian city that holds a Kumbh Mela every 12 years.<\/p>\n For decades, the festival was overseen largely by various orders of Hindu monks. But governments have long been facilitators, ensuring that the events are orderly and safe.<\/p>\n Kumbh Mela festivals have steadily increased in size over the decades, from a total attendance of a few million people to hundreds of millions, as better infrastructure and facilities attracted more pilgrims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The central and state governments earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars for this year\u2019s event, called the Maha Kumbh, or \u201cGreat\u201d Kumbh, because it coincides with a rare celestial alignment last seen 144 years ago. The festival began in mid-January and will end late this month.<\/p>\n