Author(s): Soko Takeuchi, K Ramesh Babu and Randeep Rakwal

Abstract:
This study explores how yoga functions as a bridge between religious tradition and contemporary wellness practices at the world’s largest religious pilgrimage, the Mahā Kumbh Mela, held in 2025 in Prayagraj, India. Taking the Indian Yoga Association (IYA)’s inaugural “Yoga Kumbh” as a case study, it employs a qualitative research design combining participant observation, autoethnographic narrative, questionnaires, and document analysis to examine two central research questions: (1) How does yoga at the Kumbh Mela mediate between religious traditions and global wellness practices? (2) How are the practices and representations of yoga at the Kumbh Mela received and reinterpreted by diverse pilgrims and visitors? The findings reveal that yoga was repositioned as a form of “shared language” that transcended sectarian and cultural boundaries, allowing participants with diverse motivations to engage in collective meaning-making. Yoga practices facilitated embodied access to rituals such as snāna, tarpana, and ārati, enabling participants—particularly foreign attendees—to shift from perceiving these as religious acts to experiencing them as forms of spiritual resonance. Moreover, the integration of yoga with pilgrimage rituals reconfigured religious practice into a spiritual experience encompassing introspection and transformation. The comprehensive support coordinated by the IYA further shaped both the material environment and the cultural interpretation of the pilgrimage space, fostering conditions for shared learning and empathetic participation. Additionally, the intervention of the Ministry of Ayush and MDNIY positioned the IYA, as a self-regulatory body of yoga organizations, as a key intermediary linking national wellness policies with lived religious culture. Overall, the Yoga Kumbh demonstrates yoga’s contemporary potential as a transcultural spiritual practice and as a platform for self-transformative spiritual tourism, highlighting yoga’s enduring adaptability and relevance within diverse socio-cultural environments.

DOI: 10.22271/kheljournal.2025.v12.i6d.4096

Pages: 234-245  |  192 Views  126 Downloads

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