Update: The Kumbh Mela has been called off
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/top-seer-ends-kumbh-mela-hours-after-pms-request-to-keep-religious-event-symbolic-amid-covid-crisis-2415924?amp=1&akamai-rum=off


Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Kumbh Mela should now be held as a “symbolic event” due to the coronavirus situation. His remarks came after the head seer of the Maha Nirvani Akhada from Madhya Pradesh, Kapil Dev, died due to Covid-19 on April 13.

In a couple of tweets on Saturday morning, the prime minister said that he had spoken about the matter to Avadeshanand Giri of Juna Akhada, one of the 13 religious clans taking part in the festival. As visuals of thousands of devotees congregating for the festival has taken the world by storm, noted for the lack of masks, social distancing and the rising number of cases as the country undergoes the second wave of covid infections, some have questioned whether this call has come too late.
A final decision on concluding the event will only be taken by the Akhada Parishad, the top body of the akhadas and therefore much remains to be seen. Also to be noted is the brazen lack of attention in national media and political bodies regarding such a congregation when just last year, a similar much downsized religious congregation was equated to Islamaphobic attacks and generalisations of communities. The double standards in public discourse and the eventual public backlash points at a number of problematic issues.


https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1712368