By: Abdul Ahad
The article traces how the Kumbh Mela is being reimagined from a myth-based bathing festival at four riverine sites into a civilisational template that links sacred time, water and geography across India. It argues that this expansion, which seeks to integrate diverse regions like Kerala and Kashmir into a unified Kumbh framework, risks erasing distinct ritual traditions and sacred cartographies, particularly Kashmir’s autonomous Shaivite-inflected religious landscape.











