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Social Psychologists Research the Biggest Crowd Event in the World

50 million pilgrims will attend the Kumbh Mela

Every year millions of pilgrims attend the annual Magh Mela religious festival by the banks of the Ganges at Allahabad. Pilgrims of all ages travel from across India brave cold and hardship to bathe in the icy waters of the holy river in the expectation of spiritual benefits. Hundreds of thousands live by the banks in a makeshift city of tents for the full month of 'Magh' in conditions of extreme cold, noise and overcrowding.

Dr Clifford Stevenson (Centre for Research on Politicial Psychology, QUB) along with ESRC project leader Dr Nick Hopkins Dundee and colleagues at the Universities of St Andrew's, Exeter and Allahabad have been investigating how social psychological processes among pilgrims at the event allows them to endure these harsh conditions and even to experience them as serene and blissful. Their work shows that a 'shared sense of identity' among the faithful provides social and emotional support as well as the psychological resilience necessary to overcome the hardships and to even accrue health benefits from this collective experience. These findings have implications for the study of the positive psychological and health benefits of large-scale collective gatherings across the world.

This year is the 12-yearly Kumbh Mela at which over 50 million pilgrims will attend the festival. On the 24th January Dr Stevenson and his colleagues will launch the results of the project at a two day media and academic event at the University of Allahabad.

PDF icon Prayag Magh Mela Research Group Press Pack