What to pack for the Kumbh

At a glance

• Clothes to bathe in — a change you can get wet — women a cotton salwar-kameez or sari, men a dhoti or shorts
• Warmth — January and February are genuinely cold in Haridwar and Prayagraj; the water more so
• Footwear — you will walk for hours; footwear is removed near the ghats
• To the ghat — carry almost nothing
• Always — medicines, photocopies of ID, cash in small notes, a written phone number

Clothing

You will bathe in your clothes. Nobody undresses at a Kumbh ghat. Bring a set you are content to get soaked in and a full dry set to change into — cotton, which dries, rather than anything synthetic and clinging.

For women a cotton salwar-kameez or a sari is the practical and customary choice; many women carry an extra length of cloth to change under. For men a dhoti or a pair of shorts. Changing enclosures exist at the main ghats but are crowded, so bring a large towel or cloth you can manage a change under.

Then warmth, and more of it than you think. A Haridwar or Prayagraj January morning is 4–8 °C before dawn and the river is glacial. The moment of real cold is not the dip; it is standing wet in the wind afterwards. A thick towel, dry socks and something windproof matter more than a heavy coat.

Footwear, and the walking

You will walk further than you expect — several kilometres on snan days, on sand, pontoon bridges and broken ground. Bring broken-in walking shoes, not new ones, and not sandals you cannot walk distances in.

Footwear is removed before the ghat area. Bring a cloth bag you can carry them in; leaving them at the edge of an Amrit Snan crowd means never seeing them again, and the barefoot walk back is long.

What to carry to the ghat — and what not to

Carry as little as possible. A small waterproof pouch with cash, one ID photocopy and a phone; a cloth bag for footwear and wet clothes; a bottle of water.

Leave behind: jewellery, the good camera, laptops, anything you would grieve to lose. The tradition is blunt about this and so is experience — do not take valuables into the water or into the crowd.

Photograph your group in the morning, on the day. If someone is separated, you will have a current picture showing exactly what they are wearing, which is what the lost-and-found camps ask for first.

Medicines, documents, and the things people forget

Medicines for the full trip plus several spare days, in original packaging, with a copy of the prescription. Mela medical camps are excellent and free, but they cannot dispense your specific long-term medication on request.

Add: rehydration salts, a basic painkiller, antiseptic, blister plasters, and any personal inhaler or insulin kept on the person rather than in the bag.

Documents: your ID, plus photocopies kept separately. Foreign pilgrims should carry a passport copy and keep the original secured at the accommodation.

Cash in small notes. Networks are congested during a mela and digital payment often fails exactly when it is needed. Small denominations for boats, offerings, tea and dana.

And the thing people always forget: write your phone number on a small child's forearm in permanent marker, and give elderly pilgrims a card with the name of the accommodation and a phone number in the local language. Every mela's lost-and-found camps reunite tens of thousands of people; this is what makes it quick.