Amid tight security, the 55-day long Kumbh Mela began with the Shahi Snan of Akharas at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh today.With a stirring slogan ”Chalo Kumbh Chale”, thousands of visitors started arriving the city for the Kumbh mela which will run till Mahashivaratri on 4th of March.The last Shahi bath will take place on 4th March that brings end to the mega event.
Union minister Smriti Irani also took a holy dip in the river Ganges on the first day with a Shahi Snan at Prayagraj . Smriti Irani also tweeted a picture of her holy dip, with the caption “Har Har Gange”.
Keeping this in mind of the estimated 12 crore pilgrims visiting the largest religious gathering,ixigo, India’s leading travel marketplace has conducted a survey on travel trends for the Ardh Kumbh Mela 2019, which revealed that youth travel is on the rise with 66 per cent Indian millennials between the age bracket of 15-35 opting to visit the ongoing cultural event.
The survey further reveals that 38 per cent respondents are willing to travel to Kumbh this year for an overall cultural experience over spirituality and religious rituals like auspicious bathing (snans). Trains have emerged as the most favourite mode of travel for Kumbh with 83 per cent respondents preferred travelling by train while six per cent opted for flights and 5 per cent travellers opted for bus. The travel trend survey was conducted in tier I and tier II cities across the country.
Survey findings also reveals that 60 per cent travellers are leaning towards budget hotel within the range of Rs 500 – Rs 3000 per night,while 22 per cent willing to pay out between Rs 3000 – Rs 5000 per night. There is also a substantial rise in homestay inclination, with over 15 per cent respondents opting to book a homestay over a hotel. Just three per cent of the respondents are ready to spend above Rs 10,000 per night on their Kumbh accommodation.
The trend report also indicates that 47 per cent travellers would wish to receive Kumbh updates through social media posts and video content on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, which is also being driven in a big way by the government on social media platforms.
Aloke Bajpai,the CEO & co-founder of ixigo said,”Over the years, the mela has evolved into a mega-scale cultural event, set in a combination of trend with tradition.We have seen an average of 30 per cent increase in travel searches from youngsters and working professionals hailing from cities like Pune, Nasik, Chennai, Bhopal and Hyderabad. To cater to this growing demand, we have also launched the Ardh Kumbh information page on our trains app , providing people news updates, transport information, hotel availability, videos, etc. on Ardh Kumbh 2019.”
Ardha Kumbh this year has organised a series of events and activities like Yuva Kumbh designed to raise awareness on the upliftment of cultural values and the rich heritage of India amongst the youth of India. Yuva Kumbh recently witnessed around 5,000 youngsters gathered together to share and exchange their views on the modernisation of education, culture and development of India.
