Kumbh Mela drew about 660 million people in 2025, making it the largest gathering on Earth

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Kumbh Mela drew about 660 million people in 2025, making it the largest gathering on Earth

the gist

Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage held every four or twelve years at four river sites: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain. Its timing follows the positions of Jupiter, the Sun and the Moon in the Hindu calendar, and devotees bathe in the rivers to cleanse sins. About 660 million people attended in 2025, up from about 240 million in 2019, which makes it the largest gathering in the world. It has been on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage since 2017.

so what

Kumbh Mela is one of the few human gatherings large enough to be visible from space, and it shows how a religious tradition can organise a temporary city of millions. Its scale raises real logistics challenges for crowds, health and infrastructure, which the organisers have to manage each cycle.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗