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Magh Mela 2027 · Kalpvas

Kalpvas at the Magh Mela: What It Is and How It Works

KumbhMela.info Editorial TeamChecked on Mon 19 Oct 2026

Kalpvas is a month-long vow kept at the Sangam in Prayagraj during the Magh Mela. Kalpvasis live in tents on the mela ground, bathe in the river every day, eat once a day and spend their time in prayer and satsang. By tradition it runs from Paush Purnima to Maghi Purnima: in 2027, Friday 22 January to Saturday 20 February, by the calendar.

ProvisionalChecked on Mon 19 Oct 2026

The meaning and rules of kalpvas are tradition, as the Prayagraj Mela Authority and the Government of India describe them. The 2027 dates come from the Hindu calendar (Tirth panchang). On 19 October 2026 we found no announcement of land allotment or kalpvasi camps for Magh Mela 2027.

Kalpvas in 2027 at a glance

QuestionAnswer
Begins, by traditionPaush Purnima, Friday 22 January 2027 (expected)
Ends, by traditionMaghi Purnima, Saturday 20 February 2027 (expected)
LengthAbout a month: 30 days, counting both ends
Bathing days inside itMauni Amavasya (6 February) and Basant Panchami (11 February)
WhereTents on the mela ground by the Sangam
Who allots the landThe Prayagraj Mela Authority, to the tirth purohits (Prayagwals), saints and religious institutions
Magh Mela 2027 as a whole15 January to 6 March 2027, in a Government of India tourism listing; not yet notified by the mela authority
2027 arrangementsNot announced

What kalpvas is

The Prayagraj Mela Authority explains the word from Sanskrit: kalpa, a cosmic age, and vas, dwelling. It describes kalpvas as a sacred retreat inside the mela, a period of discipline, prayer and study. The people who keep it are kalpvasis.

Go deeperFamilies count the month differently1 min read

Sources count the month in slightly different ways. A Government of India backgrounder says that, according to tradition, kalpvas begins on Paush Purnima and lasts a month, until Magh Purnima. The mela authority’s page on rituals, citing the Brahma Purana and Padma Purana, counts it from an Ekadashi in Paush to the Ekadashi of Magh. And the mela authority describes Mahashivratri as the kalpvasis’ final holy bath. Families follow their own custom; ask your family priest which one yours keeps.

The rules and a kalpvasi's day

The mela authority’s page on rituals says a kalpvasi keeps 21 rules in thought, word and deed, which it traces to the Padma Purana. These are the practices as official sources and news reports describe them; families keep them in different ways.

  • Truth and restraint. The rules include speaking the truth, non-violence and control of the senses, celibacy and giving up indulgences.
  • Bathing every day. During kalpvas, PTI reported at the start of the 2026 mela, devotees bathe in the Ganga twice a day.
  • One meal a day. Both that report and the mela authority’s list of rules name a single daily meal.
  • Prayer through the day. The mela authority’s rules include rising before sunrise and prayer at the three junctions of the day (trikal sandhya), with japa and kirtan.
  • Satsang and study. Kalpvasis take part in satsang, spiritual discourses, and study the scriptures, the mela authority says.
  • A simple life. Sleeping on the ground, and clean white or yellow clothes.
  • Giving. Daan according to one’s means, pind daan for ancestors, and service to ascetics and saints are among the rules.
  • Fasting and veni daan. The same page calls fasting the most important part of kalpvas, especially on particular days, and says veni daan, offering shaved hair at the Sangam, is believed to be a duty of a kalpvasi at the Kumbh.
Small lamps in baskets hanging from tall bamboo poles against the night sky at the Kumbh Mela camps.Photo: Ninara, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kalpvasi tents on the mela ground at Prayagraj, where each Prayagwal flies a banner on a tall bamboo pole so that his pilgrims can find him

How the month runs

By tradition the month runs from Paush Purnima to Maghi Purnima. The 2027 dates are expected, from the Hindu calendar.

  1. Paush Purnima, Friday 22 JanuaryKalpvasis bathe at the Sangam to begin their retreat. At the opening of the 2026 mela, the president of the Prayag Dham Sangh told PTI that kalpvasis take the vow of kalpvas from their priests after the bath and then stay at the mela. By a custom PIB described in 2025, barley is sown at the start of kalpvas.
  2. Mauni Amavasya, Saturday 6 FebruaryMauni Amavasya is kept with a vow of silence, which by tradition kalpvasis also observe.
  3. Basant Panchami, Thursday 11 FebruaryOn Basant Panchami kalpvasis wear yellow.
  4. Maghi Purnima, Saturday 20 FebruaryKalpvasis take a final dip, perform puja and give daan. As PIB described the tradition, they hold a Satyanarayan Katha and a havan, make offerings to the tirth purohits, immerse the barley in the Ganga and take the tulsi plant home.
  5. At the end of a twelve-year cycleFamilies hold a community feast in their villages.
JanuaryFebruaryMarch
JAN15Fri
Makar SankrantiFri 15 Jan 2027 · Pausha Shukla Saptami · Sangam
ExpectedAbout this day

Tap a dot. The bigger saffron dots are Amrit Snans.

If your family is new to kalpvas

  1. Start with your relativesAsk those who have kept kalpvas which tirth purohit the family goes to. Each purohit keeps the genealogy of the families he serves, recorded by area and family name, the mela authority says, so he may already have your family’s record.
  2. Find the campEach Prayagwal flies a banner on a tall bamboo pole so that his pilgrims can find him on the mela ground.
  3. Ask before you goAsk the purohit or the camp which dates your family keeps, what the stay includes, and when to arrive before Paush Purnima.
  4. Wait for the 2027 arrangementsOn 19 October 2026 no allotment schedule or kalpvasi township had been announced. The mela administration’s planning so far, reported in August 2026, covers tenders for land levelling, tents and sanitation.
  5. Check before you payBefore paying anyone for a tent, check who runs the camp; the checker below helps. For a hotel, or a tent if you are not keeping kalpvas, read where to stay for Magh Mela 2027.

1Does the seller give a full name, a street address and a GST number?

2Is the price written down, with what is and is not included?

3Are you asked to pay only to a personal UPI ID or bank account?

4Is there a written cancellation policy?

5Does it say "official" or "government approved" without a link to the authority's own list?

6Are you being rushed with "only today" or "last few tents"?

0 of 6 answered

Official places to checkHaridwar: haridwarkumbh.uk.gov.inNashik: divcomnashik.maharashtra.gov.in (Simhastha section of the Divisional Commissioner's site)Ujjain: the Simhastha authority, once bookings openEvery official site, app and helplinePaid already and think it is a fraud? Call the cyber crime helpline 1930 · cybercrime.gov.in

For the season’s dates and bathing days, see the Magh Mela page.

Who arranges the camps

The Prayagraj Mela Authority, set up under a 2017 Uttar Pradesh law, organises the Magh Mela, and every year, the district says, the state builds a temporary tent township at the Sangam, with roads, transport, water, electricity, sanitation, medical care and policing. Most kalpvasis stay in camps run by their priests or by saints, on land the authority allots.

Tirth purohits (Prayagwals)

The mela authority allots land on the mela ground to the Prayagwals, priestly families who have lived in Prayagraj for generations. They set up tents and host their pilgrim families for the length of the mela. The Prayagwal Sabha, their own body, divides the land among its members.

Saints and institutions

A 2019 Government of India release said most kalpvasis stay at the camps of the priests of Prayag and of saints and seers. Religious institutions get land too: for Magh Mela 2026, Patrika reported, the authority fixed an allotment timetable that began on 2 December 2025 with a Ganga puja.

A township for kalpvasis

For Magh Mela 2026, the mela’s additional district magistrate, Dayanand Prasad, told PTI that, for the first time, a separate township named Prayagwal had been set up for kalpvasis, over 950 bighas opposite the Nag Vasuki temple.

Kalpvas in numbers

10 lakh+devotees kept kalpvas at the 2025 Maha Kumbh, PIB said
1.6 lakhtents the mela authority set up for them in 2025, with electricity, water and sanitation
A wide view of the Kumbh Mela camps and a pontoon bridge over a river channel at Prayagraj in 2019Photo: Ninara from Helsinki, Finland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Camps and a pontoon bridge on the mela ground at Prayagraj during the 2019 Kumbh

A government backgrounder for the 2019 Kumbh notes ration systems for 10 lakh kalpvasis, and at the 2025 Maha Kumbh the state supplied food items mainly for the akharas and kalpvasis. The facilities for 2027 have not been announced.

Questions people ask

When is kalpvas in 2027?

By tradition, from Paush Purnima to Maghi Purnima: Friday 22 January to Saturday 20 February 2027, by the Hindu calendar. Some families count it from an Ekadashi instead.

What do kalpvasis do every day?

They bathe in the river every day, twice a day according to a PTI report, eat one meal a day, rise before sunrise for prayer, take part in satsang and keep a simple life of celibacy and daan. The mela authority’s page counts 21 rules in all, which it traces to the Padma Purana.

Where next

How to reachTrains, buses, roads and the last stretch
Where to stayAreas, camps and what to check
Ghats and placesWhere the bathing happens

Sources

23 sources · checked 19 Oct 2026
  1. Kalpavas (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
  2. Rituals of Kumbh (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
  3. The Beginning of Maha Kumbh 2025: A Grand Spiritual Spectacle · Press Information Bureau / Ministry of Culture, Government of India ·
  4. The Beginning of Maha Kumbh 2025: A Grand Spiritual Spectacle (Paush Purnima and kalpvas) · Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Culture ·
  5. The Beginning of Maha Kumbh 2025: A Grand Spiritual Spectacle (tents and facilities for kalpvasis) · Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Culture ·
  6. 45 Crore Devotees at Maha Kumbh 2025: Maha Kumbh 2025 Witnesses Record-Breaking Footfall · Press Information Bureau, Government of India (Ministry of Culture) ·
  7. All set for second bathing festival of Paush Purnima at Prayagraj Kumbh Mela tomorrow · Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Culture ·
  8. Spiritual Gurus: Prayagwal and Khak Chowk sections (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
  9. Lakhs bathe in freezing Sangam waters as Magh Mela begins in Prayagraj · PTI (via Deccan Chronicle) ·
  10. Lakhs bathe in freezing Sangam waters as Magh Mela begins in Prayagraj (daily routine of kalpvas) · PTI (via Deccan Chronicle) ·
  11. Magh Mela 2026 to host 12-15 crore pilgrims, says UP CM (kalpvasis and bathing dates) · PTI (via The Tribune) ·
  12. Magh Mela 2026 preparations: from land allotment to traffic plan, the administration's master blueprint (Hindi) · Patrika (Mohd Danish, Prayagraj) ·
  13. Prayagraj: Magh Mela 2027 first meeting sets the outline of preparations; 54 tenders, mela area to grow (Hindi) · Amar Ujala (Vinod Singh, Amar Ujala Network, Prayagraj) ·
  14. Prayagraj Mela Authority · Division Prayagraj, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
  15. Culture & Heritage: Prayagraj (Annual Magh Mela) · District Prayagraj, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
  16. Bathing Dates: Maha Kumbh 2025, descriptions of Paush Purnima, Makar Sankranti, Maghi Purnima and Maha Shivaratri · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
  17. Bathing Dates: Maha Kumbh 2025, descriptions of Mauni Amavasya and Basant Panchami · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
  18. Magha Purnima 2027 date and Purnima tithi times for Allahabad (Prayagraj) · Drik Panchang (drikpanchang.com) ·
  19. Festivals 2027 (Tirth spiritual calendar): Makara Sankranti, Mauni Amavasya, Vasant Panchami and Maha Shivaratri, re-checked 18 October 2026 · TravNext Tech Private Limited (Tirth.com) ·
  20. Panchang: tithi, sunrise and lunar month · TravNext Tech Private Limited (Tirth.com) ·
  21. Magh Mela 2027 · Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (listing credited to Uttar Pradesh Tourism) ·
  22. A Hundred Million Pilgrims, One Sacred Purpose: The Maha Kumbh Experience · Press Information Bureau, Government of India (Ministry of Culture) ·
  23. Prayagraj: Blending Tradition with Modernity (backgrounder, PDF): Milestones of Kumbh Mela 2019 · Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Culture ·