Media, filming and VVIP logistics

At a glance

• Accreditation — issued per mela by the state Information & Public Relations department, with a central desk at the mela
• Foreign journalists — a separate and slower route — start months ahead
• Drones — restricted; the mela is normally a no-fly zone, and permission is granted rarely and specifically
• Media centre — each mela runs one, with workspace, briefings and feed facilities
• The rule that matters — nothing on this page can be arranged on arrival

Press accreditation

Accreditation for a Kumbh is issued per mela, by the Information and Public Relations department of the host state — Uttarakhand for Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh for Prayagraj, Maharashtra for Nashik-Trimbakeshwar, Madhya Pradesh for Ujjain — usually working through a dedicated media cell set up for the mela and a central accreditation desk on the mela ground itself.

A national accreditation card (PIB or a state card) helps but does not by itself substitute for mela accreditation, because mela passes are also physical access control: they are zoned, and they determine which barricaded areas and which ghat vantage points you may enter on a snan morning.

Applications open in the months before a mela and are announced through the state's official mela portal. Expect to supply the organisation's letter, your identity documents, equipment details and the names of every crew member.

Foreign journalists and crews

This is the part that catches organisations out. Foreign correspondents and film crews are in a different and slower category than domestic press, involving the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of External Affairs, and — depending on the work — a journalist visa rather than a tourist visa. Filming for broadcast on a tourist visa is not permissible.

Timelines run to months, not weeks. If a foreign crew intends to film the Haridwar Ardh Kumbh in early 2027, the paperwork belongs in 2026.

The requirements change between melas and between governments, so the only reliable source is the current notification from the host state's mela authority and the Indian mission in your country. Any figure or timeline quoted second-hand — including here — should be verified against that.

Drones and aerial filming

Assume you may not fly. A Kumbh mela area is normally declared a restricted or no-fly zone for the duration, on straightforward security and crowd-safety grounds: an unmanned aircraft failing over a crowd of millions is a mass-casualty event.

Permission where it is given comes through the mela police and administration in coordination with civil aviation rules, is specific to an operator, an aircraft, a window and an area, and is normally confined to accredited broadcasters. The administration itself flies surveillance drones, and confusing those with permitted press flights is a common and expensive error.

Flying without permission at a mela leads to seizure of the aircraft and prosecution. There is no informal version of this.

Media centre, OB vans and satellite positioning

Each mela operates a media centre on the mela ground with workspace, connectivity, scheduled administration briefings and, at the larger melas, a shared video feed of the principal ghats.

Positions for OB vans, satellite uplink vehicles and camera platforms around the main ghats are allotted in advance by the mela administration, not chosen on the day. Vehicle movement inside the restricted zone on a snan morning is effectively impossible without a pre-issued vehicle pass, and the allotted positions are occupied the night before.

For an Amrit Snan the working assumption should be: in position before midnight, and staying in position until the processions have cleared.

VIP darshan and protocol

Protocol movement at a Kumbh is handled by the host state's protocol officers with the mela administration and police, and requests are made through the appropriate government channel rather than through temples or akhadas directly.

A point worth stating plainly: on Amrit Snan mornings the akhadas' movement takes precedence, and the administration will not interrupt an akhada procession for a protocol visit. VIP programmes at a Kumbh are therefore normally scheduled around the snan windows.

For darshan at the associated temples — Mahakaleshwar at Ujjain, Trimbakeshwar, Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi at Haridwar — protocol darshan is arranged through the temple trust concerned, and the Bhasma Aarti at Mahakaleshwar in particular requires booking well in advance regardless of status.