1954 Prayag Kumbh Mela stampede

This was the first Kumbh Mela after Independence, with more than 5 million pilgrims in attendance for the 40-day festival, at Allahabad, (today known as Prayagraj); many leading politicians visited the city during the event.

In addition to the compounding failures of crowd control measures, and the presence of a large number of politicians,[6][5] a major factor contributing to the incident was that the Ganges River had changed course and moved in closer to the Bund (embankment) and the city, reducing the available space of the temporary Kumbh township, and restricting movement of the people.

[7] Ultimately, what triggered the tragedy was a crowd surge that broke through the barriers, separating them from a procession of sadhus and holy men of various akharas, resulting in the fatal crush.

[8] After the event, Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru suggested that politicians and VIPs should refrain from visiting the Mela,[6] and were all exonerated, along with the government, of any wrongdoing after an inquiry.

[9] The judicial inquiry commission, set up after what was one of the worst crowd crushes in India's history, was headed by Justice Kamala Kant Verma, and its recommendations became the basis for better management of future events in the coming decades.