Prayagraj, India – Arvind Agrawal manages stationery work throughout India for four decades in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

The city is currently hosting MahakumbH, and is often called KumbH, the largest religious gathering in the world of Hindus.

Its mobile phone comes every few minutes with callers who ask for the prices of the main episodes, calendars and notes, all of which depict an element of MahakumbH, which is a smart fraud that sent high sales.

“I hardly grown for more than four to five hours during the night during the past three months due to the huge demand for our purposes. The store remains open for a longer period than the regular table to send requests.”

He says the additional demand will enhance its annual revenues by about $ 570,000 to more than $ 660,000.

MahakumbH is held every 12 years in India in four sacred sites – Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain – on rotation depending on the alignment of planets with the stars. Hindus believes that the festival is an opportunity for them to wash their sins away and seek spiritual liberation.

According to the legendary beliefs, the festival is organized to celebrate the Electrit – The Amrit – which occurred in different places in India while the gods were protecting them from demons.

The event that started on the bank of Sanjam – the fluctuation of the Gange, Yamona and Saraswati rivers – will end on January 13 on February 26, and it is expected to attract millions of worshipers and Hindu saints.

The festival is held on an area of ​​10,000 acres (4,046 hectares), where temporary tents were built to accommodate the monks and reformers.

Huge job opportunity

Regardless of its spiritual importance, Mahakomb is also a huge job opportunity for the city’s businessmen, the government says. More than 400 million people are likely to visit the city during a 45 -day festival to shower in the Gange River and perform prayers.

The numbers that are renewed around them are large.

Mahandra Joyal, head of the state of Uttar Pradesh, from the Union of all Indian merchants, says local companies will gain approximately $ 3 billion. Yogi Adityanath is estimated that the festival is expected to achieve more than $ 2 trillion for the country at the expense of 5,000 rupees ($ 58) spent by each of 400 million people expected to attend this event.

The state rented influencing social media to promote the event, as well as fears in airports throughout the country.

“The luxury country houses were built, and the trips packages were made for the arrivals coming to visit the Compe,” said Mokish Kumar Mesram, the main secretary of the state’s Ministry of Tourism.

Some entrepreneurs certainly benefit from the explosion of tourists. Ashish Mittal, 48, who sells paper cups among other can be eliminated, told Al -Jazeera that his work has witnessed tremendous growth over the past few days on the back of demand from many societal kitchens created to feed the lovers every day.

“Acts in a large request. We usually do 40 million rupees [$462,086] Each fiscal year, but we expect additional sales of 15 million rupees [$173,282] Because of Mahakomb, Mital told Al -Jazeera.

Likewise, Vritti Imedia, a company that sells the advertising space on LED screens on transport trucks, has cut many customers for the period of MahakumbH.

“We have 25 screen trucks moving across the festival area that hunted millions of eyes.” We expect to create revenues more than four to five times from the previous Kumbhs because of its huge scope. “

The state government pumped 70 billion rupees (808.5 million dollars) into infrastructure development, including water and waste management, and the identification of roads and highways. The federal government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has shrunk approximately $ 250 million.

The senior state government officials told Al -Jazeera that investment is also an attempt to show improved infrastructure to attract investors.

“The huge arrangements such as building 150,000 tents, building government highways, and improving the railway and air connection, aims to give a clear signal to investors that the government is not only able to organize such a huge event, but it can also create a livelihood for many thousands of thousands of People, “How Rajo, Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister of the State, tells the island.

However, some economists are skeptical of the government’s demand to generate $ 2 trillion from this event.

“Most of the worshipers visit Kumbh in groups and belong to the lower layers of society and do not have up to $ 58 to spend themselves,” said Sonl Kumar Sinha, a professor of economics who was previously the main economist in India. Fitch reviews.

Sinha said that the government should be dramatically on the accommodation, safety and food for 45 days, and this may exceed the investment that the government publicly demands.

“The true beneficiaries are only those who are linked to tourism and hospitality. Even in Ayodia, where the Grand Ram Temple was devoted last year, those industries that focused on tourism have obtained a large part of the work, but there were no investments in other sectors. Events such as Mahakumbh focused Simply the presentation of the rational rule of the government and nothing beyond that. “

Despite all arrangements, problems and some worshipers have continued to complain of insufficient shelters in the exhibition grounds.

“We are forced to sleep under the open sky in the cold cold with the blankets that we brought from our homes. There are no arrangements for residency and food. Sonita Roy, 45, says a housewife who came with a group to attend Mahakumb from Indor in Maadi Pradesh:“ We have brought some Dry food because eating abroad is very expensive here. “

His main problem was unhealthy toilets in the exhibition grounds.

“The government has made good arrangements in terms of managing crowds and traffic, but the main problem is the unimportant temporary toilets … it is completely dirty and full of human waste. It is impossible to even enter and stand there for one second, but it is the only option.”

Another complaint is high ticket prices.

Airfare to Prayagraj ranges from cities such as New Delhi and Kolkata from 20,000 to 35,000 rupees ($ 230 to $ 405), and often the standard fare is less than 7,000 rupees ($ 81).

He told Debapratim Paul, 25, a trader in the Kolkata Stock Market, the island that he ended up on a trip to Prayagraj for the MahakumbH experience where train tickets were sold. He paid a “very slope” price of 10,000 rupees ($ 116) because there was no alternative. “The government must limit prizes during such events to help more worshipers to visit the Holy City,” he says.