Managing scale and complexity in recurring religious mass gatherings: Preparedness for the Nashik Kumbh Mela 2027

Recurring religious mass gatherings represent a unique intersection of faith, mobility, environment, and public service delivery. The Kumbh Mela, conducted periodically at multiple riverine locations in India, provides a rare opportunity to examine how preparedness frameworks evolve across repeated large-scale human congregations. In this paper we present a comparative perspective across recent Kumbh Melas to illustrate how operational challenges encountered at earlier events have informed subsequent planning strategies. By examining trends in infrastructure development, sanitation capacity, surveillance mechanisms, crowd management, and environmental recovery, the analysis highlights a gradual shift from short-term logistical arrangements toward integrated and forward-looking preparedness models. Particular attention is given to how planning horizons have expanded beyond the event timeframe to incorporate longer-term urban, ecological, and service-system considerations. The upcoming Nashik–Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela 2027 is discussed as an example of this transition, reflecting accumulated learning rather than episodic response. The perspective highlights the importance of learning and adaptive planning in shaping preparedness for recurrent mega mass gatherings, with relevance beyond the Kumbh Mela context.