From Sanctity To Sustainability: Mahakumbh 2025 –A Beacon Of Eco-Tourism And Green Governance

Abstract

The present paper attempts to examine the MahaKumbh Mela 2025 as a paradigmatic case of heritage based mega-event management through review of diverse interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and through an assessment of its multifaceted significance. The main goal is to analyze how this event evolved from a classical religious ritual to a global, digital-led, and strategically planned religious event. Based on qualitative methodology, the study examines the governance of the event – from planning to collaboration among stakeholders to the design of experiential service, bringing secondary data from reports, academic literature, and international media coverage. The paper uses an approach where the Four Realm's of Experiences approach of Pine and Gilmore, Freeman's Stakeholder theory and Strategic Event Management (SEM) models along with Dharma-centric governance principles from the Dharmanomics model are meaningfully integrated to analyse the performance of MahaKumbh in multiple dimensions.  The key performance indicators like the number of visitors, logistical arrangements, social media impressions and a full-spectrum sanitation and emergency system are thoroughly taken for analysis. The paper also highlights the significant factors of this major global religion event like raising the bar for the rest of the world in terms of integration of eternal wisdom with the tourism strategy and sustainability goals to make it a pathway for mega events to follow in future.