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Magh Mela 2027 in Prayagraj: Dates, Snan Days, Getting There and Where to Stay

Every winter a tent city rises on the sandbanks where the Ganga and the Yamuna meet at Prayagraj, and millions come to bathe at the Sangam. The Magh Mela is the yearly version of the Kumbh. In 2027 it runs from 14 January to 6 March. Here are the bathing dates, how to get there cheaply, and how to get through the biggest days.

Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Text added by Trip Under.

The Magh Mela is held every year in the Hindu month of Magh on the sandbanks at the Sangam, where the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati meet. The Kumbh comes to Prayagraj every twelve years; the Magh Mela is the yearly gathering on the same ground. Pilgrims bathe on the auspicious days, sadhus and religious orders set up camps, and thousands of families stay the whole month in tents on the riverbank.

How we put this together. The 2027 dates and the plans for the mela ground come from Amar Ujala's report of the first preparation meeting (27 August 2026). The bathing dates are from Drik Panchang's 2027 calendar. Where the 2027 details are not out yet, such as traffic rules and the tent city, we show last season's, labelled. We found no official mela website, and no official boat fare list.

Magh Mela 2027 snan dates

What is planned for 2027

• A bigger ground: 900–925 hectares in 8 sectors, up from 844 hectares and 7 sectors.
• Pontoon bridges: nine in the public works tenders, two of them on the Arail side.
• More parking and police: parking sites up from 42 to 48, for about 1.45 lakh vehicles; police posts up from 42 to 50; CCTV cameras up from 400 to 1,152.

Sources: Amar Ujala (27 August 2026) for the area, sectors and bridges; Navbharat Live (29 August 2026) for parking, police posts and cameras. These are plans from the first meetings, not finished work.

Last season in numbers

Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kalpvas: a month on the riverbank

Kalpvas is the month-long vow at the heart of the Magh Mela. Kalpvasis live in tents on the sandbanks from Paush Purnima to Maghi Purnima, which in 2027 is 22 January to 20 February (Drik Panchang). Accounts of the practice describe a bath in the river before sunrise, one simple vegetarian meal a day, sleeping on the ground and days given to prayer and listening to religious discourses.

You do not need to be a Kalpvasi to visit. Most people come for one or two days around a snan date.

Getting there

• Overnight from Delhi: the Prayagraj Express (12418) leaves New Delhi at 22:15 and reaches Prayagraj Junction at 07:00, sleeper ₹410. You save a night's room and arrive in time for a morning bath.
• Prayagraj and Varanasi in one trip: the two cities are 132 km apart by rail. Add Kashi Vishwanath before or after the mela.
• On snan days, expect to walk. Last season, for Mauni Amavasya, heavy vehicles were barred from the city from the midnight before, and only mela vehicles were allowed in (Amar Ujala, 17 January 2026). Railway stations ran one-way movement from 14 to 20 January (ETV Bharat).

Where to stay

• UP Tourism tent city: in 2026, UPSTDC ran the Aagaman tent city on the Arail side of the Sangam, with 54 tents (30 deluxe, 12 luxury, 12 premium), from ₹7,500 to ₹15,000, booked on the UPSTDC website (ETV Bharat, 18 January 2026). The 2027 tent city has not been announced.
• Camps on the mela ground: religious orders and organisations set up camps across the sectors. We found no published price list for staying in them.
• Prayagraj city: hotels and guesthouses in the city are the budget option. Book early for the snan weekends.

Crowds and safety

• Mauni Amavasya is the hardest day. In 2025, at the Maha Kumbh on the same ground, a crowd crush in the early hours of Mauni Amavasya (29 January 2025) killed at least 30 people by the official count. If you are going on Mauni Amavasya, arrive the day before, bathe at the nearest ghat rather than pushing to the Sangam point, and agree a meeting place with your group.
• Keep a paper note of your camp's sector and a phone number in every child's and older person's pocket.
• Boats: we found no official fare list for the Sangam boats. Agree the fare and whether it is per person or per boat before you step in, and wear the life jacket.
• Use the official app. In 2026 the state launched a Magh Mela Service App, with QR codes on electricity poles across the mela area (Prokerala, 12 January 2026). Check for the 2027 version before you go.

Photo: Rohitpal08, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Weather and what to pack

January in Prayagraj is cold in the mornings and mild by afternoon: about 22°C by day and 10°C at night on average, with little rain (climate-data.org; we could not find IMD normals for the city). Bathing is before sunrise, so bring a towel, a dry change of clothes in a bag, warm layers, a torch and slip-on sandals. Check your train's running status on the morning you travel.

A shoestring plan

1. Pick one snan day, ideally a weekday: Basant Panchami (Thursday 11 February) or Paush Purnima (Friday 22 January).
2. Take the overnight train from Delhi (Prayagraj Express, sleeper ₹410) or the morning train from Varanasi (sleeper from ₹150).
3. Walk to the Sangam from the city, bathe, and spend the day in the mela: walking through the camps and sitting in on the discourses costs nothing.
4. Leave the same night, or go on to Varanasi.

A return sleeper from Delhi is about ₹820 at the listed fares, and from Varanasi about ₹300. Entry and bathing are free. Budget separately for food and a room if you stay.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and how we priced this

• Dates and plans: Amar Ujala, first preparation meeting (27 Aug 2026); Navbharat Live, 925 hectares and eight sectors (29 Aug 2026); Aaj Samaaj, dates (2 Aug 2026).
• Snan dates and Kalpvas: Drik Panchang, 2027 Hindu calendar, Makar Sankranti and Mauni Amavasya pages (accessed 8 Nov 2026).
• Last season: News On AIR (3 Jan, 18 Jan and 15 Feb 2026); Amar Ujala, Mauni Amavasya traffic plan (17 Jan 2026); ETV Bharat, railway plan (14 Jan 2026), Aagaman tent city (18 Jan 2026) and tent fires (24 Jan 2026); Prokerala, Magh Mela Service App (12 Jan 2026).
• 2025 crowd crush: reports of the 29 Jan 2025 Maha Kumbh crowd crush, as summarised on Wikipedia (accessed 8 Nov 2026).
• Trains: ConfirmTkt listings, New Delhi to Prayagraj and Varanasi to Prayagraj (for travel on 9 Nov 2026). Weather: climate-data.org, Allahabad.

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Costs come from Trip Under's place data and our cost model (see methodology). They are indicative ballparks for budget travel and move with season and demand. Check live bus, train and room prices before you book. Trip Under is reader-planned, not an agency, and takes no commission on any booking.