The Magh Mela ground is a temporary tent city built each year on the sandy banks around the Sangam. It is divided into numbered sectors, joined by pontoon bridges, and edged by bathing ghats on the water side and parking on the land side. In 2026 it covered about 800 hectares in seven sectors. The layout for Magh Mela 2027 had not been published on 16 October 2026.
A city built again every year
According to the Prayagraj district, the Uttar Pradesh government sets up a temporary tented township at the Sangam every year for the Magh Mela, with roads, transport, water, electricity, sanitation, medical care and policing. Because it is temporary, the plan is drawn again for each mela.
Before the 2026 mela, the Chief Minister said the ground would cover 800 hectares. The Public Works Department was laying steel checkered plates over 160 km of paths and building seven pontoon bridges, and 42 parking sites and a tent city were planned, PTI reported. On the opening day All India Radio reported that the ground was divided into seven sectors.
The parts of the mela ground
Sectors
The ground is split into numbered sectors. For the 2025 Maha Kumbh the mela authority listed the camps of the akharas and of religious institutions (sansthas) by sector number, with map links. The sector number is the first thing to know about any camp.
Pontoon bridges
Temporary bridges laid on floating pontoons cross the river and link sectors on different banks. Seven were planned for 2026; the far larger 2025 Maha Kumbh had 30, according to PIB.
Ghats
Bathing ghats are laid out along the water for each mela. In 2026 the administration prepared more than 3 km of them, All India Radio reported. The tip where the rivers meet is called Sangam Nose in official notices; there, the district says, priests sit on small platforms in the river to help pilgrims with puja and the bath.
Plate roads
Paths across the sand are made of steel checkered plates. The 2025 Maha Kumbh used more than 2,69,000 of them, PIB said.
Parking at the edges
Vehicles stop outside the bathing area. At the 2025 Maha Kumbh, parking zones were 1 to 2 km from the ghats, grouped into four areas: City, Naini, Jhusi and Phaphamau.
The city side, Jhusi and Arail
The mela spreads well beyond the city bank. The Prayagraj Mela Authority gives its address as Parade Ground, Daraganj, on the city side. Jhusi had its own parking area in 2025 and one of the temporary bus stations the authority opened for the Maha Kumbh. Arail has hosted tent colonies: PIB reported a special tent colony there in 2019, and Arail Ghat was one of the official boat points to the Sangam in 2025.
Where your camp is decides how you reach the water: on foot across the sand and a pontoon bridge, or by boat from a ghat. The Sangam guide describes both.
Photo: Ninara from Helsinki, Finland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsHow big the ground gets
| Mela | What the official record says |
|---|---|
| Kumbh 2019 | 3,200 hectares in 20 sectors, against 18 sectors in 2013 (PIB) |
| Maha Kumbh 2025 | 25 sectors and 30 pontoon bridges (PIB) |
| Magh Mela 2026 | About 800 hectares in seven sectors, with seven pontoon bridges planned (All India Radio, PTI) |
| Magh Mela 2027 | Not announced |
The yearly Magh Mela is much smaller than a Kumbh. A map or sector number from 2025 tells you little about 2027.
Finding your way in 2027
- Note your sectorNote your camp’s sector number, and the pontoon bridge or ghat nearest to it, before you arrive.
- Get the official mapLook for it once the mela authority publishes it. For the 2025 Maha Kumbh its website carried a map of the mela.
- Expect to walk on main bathing daysFrom the parking or the station. In 2025 vehicles were kept out of the mela area from the day before to the day after each main bathing day. Main bathing days usually draw the most pilgrims; follow police and mela instructions on the day.
- Sort your bed and your journeySee where to stay for Magh Mela 2027; for trains, buses and flights, how to reach Prayagraj.
On 16 October 2026 the mela authority had not published the 2027 area, sectors, pontoon bridges, ghats, parking or map. The mela itself is expected from Friday 15 January to Saturday 6 March 2027, with six main bathing days; see Magh Mela 2027 dates and the bathing days, one by one. Our explainer on how a temporary Kumbh city works shows the same idea at Kumbh scale.
Plan your trip
Sources
17 sources · checked 16 Oct 2026
- Culture & Heritage: Prayagraj (Annual Magh Mela) · District Prayagraj, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
- Magh Mela 2026 to host 12-15 crore pilgrims says UP CM; preparation in full swing · Press Trust of India, via The Tribune ·
- 43-day-long Magh Mela begins in Prayagraj (2026 mela arrangements) · News On AIR (All India Radio News, Prasar Bharati) ·
- Spiritual Congregations: Akharas and Sansthas (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
- Mahakumbh 2025: A Spectacle of Faith, Unity, and Tradition · Press Information Bureau, Government of India (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) ·
- Devotees take holy dip in the rivers on Mauni Amavasya in Prayagraj · All India Radio (News on AIR), Prasar Bharati ·
- PM to visit Uttar Pradesh on 13 December · Press Information Bureau, Government of India (Prime Minister's Office) ·
- Places of Interest (Sangam, Allahabad Fort, Patalpuri and Akshaya Vat) · District Prayagraj, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
- Traffic Plan (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
- Parking (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
- Sangam Boat Ride: fare per person by route (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
- How to Reach (Maha Kumbh 2025 official website) · Prayagraj Mela Authority, Government of Uttar Pradesh ·
- Know about Kumbh: Historical Significance (2019 Kumbh layout and kalpvasis) · Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Culture ·
- First Shahi Snan of Kumbh held today at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh · Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Culture ·
- A Hundred Million Pilgrims, One Sacred Purpose: The Maha Kumbh Experience · Press Information Bureau, Government of India (Ministry of Culture) ·
- Magh Mela 2027 · Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (listing credited to Uttar Pradesh Tourism) ·
- Panchang: tithi, sunrise and lunar month · TravNext Tech Private Limited (Tirth.com) ·
Photo: Ninara, CC BY 2.0
