Key points
- Ardh Kumbh Mela 2027 in Haridwar will formally start around Makar Sankranti in mid-January and culminate on 20 April, covering roughly 97 days of main religious activity.
- The fair area and arrangements will effectively run from 1 January to 30 April, with Kalpavas, cultural programmes and Akhara processions spread across this entire period.
- Ten key snan days have been approved by all 13 Akharas, including traditional auspicious baths and four Shahi Amrit Snans that will be held for the first time in an Ardh Kumbh.
- Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami finalised the schedule in a meeting with representatives of all Akharas at Damkothi in Haridwar, ending days of uncertainty over dates.
- Saints have welcomed the decision, saying this Ardh Kumbh will match the grandeur, discipline and spiritual stature of a full Kumbh Mela, and will attract devotees from across India and abroad.
- Crowd management, ghat capacity, traffic diversions, temporary routes, parking, accommodation and safety systems are being planned on a large scale, with major works targeted for completion by late 2026.
According to the finalised plan, the core phase of the Ardh Kumbh Mela will begin around Makar Sankranti in mid-January 2027, and the main snan sequence will continue till 20 April 2027, making it almost a 97-day religious festival focused on Haridwar’s Ganga ghats. Administrative activities, Kalpavas, cultural events and continuous pilgrim inflow will extend the fair framework from 1 January to 30 April, so that arrangements such as security, sanitation and public facilities remain in place before and after the peak bathing days. The bath schedule includes four major early snans, for example, on Makar Sankranti, Mauni Amavasya, Basant Panchami and Magh Purnima, followed by four royal Amrit Snans on Mahashivratri, Somvati or Phalguna Amavasya, Mesha Sankranti or Vaisakhi and Chaitra Purnima, along with other important tithis like Chaitra Pratipada and Ram Navami that will also see heavy devotee presence.
The confusion over dates was resolved after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a detailed consultation with the saint community and Akhara leadership at Damkothi, Haridwar, where two representatives from each of the 13 Akharas joined officials of the Mela administration. In this meeting, the government placed its proposed calendar and logistical blueprint before the Akharas, and after discussion, all 13 Akharas agreed to the bathing dates, duration and broad arrangements, emphasising that tradition, faith and the dignity of Ardh Kumbh have been respected. Senior saints, including leaders of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, later stated that the Ardh Kumbh will be organised divinely and magnificently comparable to a Purna Kumbh, and that the whole country is looking towards Haridwar with high expectations.
A key highlight of Ardh Kumbh 2027 is the inclusion of four royal Amrit Snans, something that has not been done earlier for an Ardh Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. In these Shahi Snans, Akharas in their traditional formations, with processions of sadhus, nagas and mahants, enter the Ganga in a ceremonial order, a practice that evolved between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries as a way to recognise the spiritual and martial role of Akharas in Hindu society. The royal bath is seen by saints as a symbol of honour and leadership within the Sant Samaj, and over time it has come to represent both religious prestige and a kind of royal pageantry, which is why the decision to hold four such Amrit Snans in an Ardh Kumbh is being described as historic.
On the preparations front, the Uttarakhand government has already begun speeding up work on widening approach roads, strengthening and extending Ganga ghats, creating additional changing facilities, setting up parking zones and planning one way traffic corridors to handle lakhs of pilgrims on peak days. Authorities are also focusing on crowd control technology, medical and disaster response units, riverfront lighting, drinking water, sanitation, solid waste management and digital information systems so that pilgrims can move safely and receive real-time updates on routes and snan timings. The state has set internal deadlines to complete major civil and infrastructure works by around October 2026, giving a buffer period to test all arrangements before the first devotees of Ardh Kumbh 2027 start arriving in large numbers.
