🕉️ Religion, Culture & Climate

🌅 Gangasagar Mela 2025 – A Sacred Pilgrimage Amid Rising Waters and Rising Tensions

Each year on Makar Sankranti, millions of Hindu devotees gather at Sagar Island in West Bengal for the Gangasagar Mela — one of India’s most sacred but climate-vulnerable pilgrimages.
In 2025, the event highlighted the dual realities of spiritual devotion and climate disruption, alongside growing calls for its national recognition.

📍 Location and Sacred Geography

• Sagar Island: Located ~100 km south of Kolkata in the Ganges delta
• Part of the Sundarbans region, but without mangroves or tigers
• Devotees assemble at the confluence of the Ganges and Bay of Bengal, believing a holy dip here cleanses sins

The island is revered in scriptures from the Mahabharata to Raghuvaṃśa, with spiritual roots going back over 2,000 years

🔥 Climate Change Impacts on the Festival

• 🌡️ Rising temperatures: Morning readings were 1.25°C above normal
• 🌊 Sea erosion: Half of the six key ghats were affected
• 🌫️ Less fog, more heat: The ambience of the sacred dip is changing

Once shrouded in early morning mist, Gangasagar now greets pilgrims with rising heat and shrinking shores.

📜 Historical & Scriptural Legacy

• Mentioned in:
  • Mahabharata – Pandava pilgrimage
  • Raghuvaṃśa – Kalidasa’s epic (5th century CE)
  • Tirthaattvapradayini – 16th century
  • Inscriptions by King Devapala of the Pala dynasty
• Kapil Muni Temple remains a symbolic centerpiece of the site

🙏 About Gangasagar Mela

• Date: 14 or 15 January (Makar Sankranti)
• Scale: Second only to the Kumbh Mela
• Ritual: Holy dip at the “Sagardwip” believed to bring moksha (liberation)

🧭 Festival Management 2025

• Estimated attendance: ~8.5 million pilgrims
• Logistics:
  • 2,500 buses
  • 120 launches
  • 9 barges
• Security:
  • 13,000+ police personnel
  • State ministers oversaw operations on-ground

Despite ecological stress, the West Bengal government ensured smooth coordination and safety.

🏞️ Devotee Experience – Praise and Pitfalls

• Praised: Better road connectivity, improved sanitation
• Criticised: Vessel service delays, bathing conditions affected by erosion
• Weather: Unseasonably warm, altering the spiritual tone for many long-time visitors

🏛️ Political Underpinnings

• State vs Centre:
  • Trinamool Congress accuses the Centre of neglecting Gangasagar
  • Opposition counters with claims of state-level inefficiency
• National Status Debate:
  • Demands to declare Gangasagar as a national fair continue
  • The Centre remains non-committal, deepening political rifts

🗣️ When faith meets federalism, the ritual becomes political.

🕯️ At the meeting of river and sea, time and tide test both devotion and direction. Gangasagar remains a sacred mirror of both India’s past and its unfolding future.