Strategic Management of Mega Religious Events: Economic and Social Outcomes of Kumbh

Abstract

The Kumbh Mela, recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, represents the world's largest peaceful human congregation, attracting over 400 million pilgrims to Prayagraj in 2025. This mega-event presents a unique context for examining strategic management practices and their socio-economic outcomes. Despite its massive scale and growing significance, limited research empirically investigates how strategic management dimensions—technology integration, crowd management, environmental governance, health preparedness, and infrastructure planning, collectively influence economic and social outcomes for host communities. This study addresses this gap by developing and testing a comprehensive strategic management framework for mega religious events, using the Kumbh Mela as a case study. Employing a mixed-method approach combining quantitative surveys (n=1,000) with police officials, vendors, and pilgrims across Prayagraj and Haridwar, supplemented by structural equation modeling (SEM) and thematic analysis of qualitative interviews, the study examines relationships between five strategic management constructs and their socio-economic outcomes. Findings reveal that all five dimensions significantly predict socio-economic outcomes, explaining 68% of variance, with infrastructure development (β=0.34) and technology integration (β=0.32) emerging as the strongest predictors. The Kumbh Mela generates approximately 600,000 temporary jobs and ₹2.2 lakh crore in economic activity, with the informal sector contributing 32% of total economic impact. However, environmental costs (₹3,800 crore) reduce net economic benefits by 17%, and social challenges including distributional inequities and labour precarity persist. The study contributes the first empirically validated strategic management framework for mega religious events, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 8, 9, 11, 12). Evidence-based recommendations include integrated infrastructure planning, technology-enabled governance, environmental sustainability protocols, and inclusive growth strategies for future mega-events