Giresh Kulkarni, founder of an organisation called Temple Connect, a tête-à-tête with Namita Bajpai, speaks about his involvement in a consultative role in the ongoing endeavour of Uttar Pradesh government in creating and managing tent cities and other sectors in Mahakumbh thus making it a special experience for the pilgrims. Some excerpts:
How is your organisation - Temple Connect - striving to enhance mela experience for the devotees thronging Mahakumbh in Prayagraj?
I, personally, deal with temple management as well as the celebrations of festivals and Jatras which happen around the temple's economy. Driven by the mission of merging tradition with innovation, my initiative aims at revolutionising temple operations by engaging communities. As far as the event of the stature of the upcoming Mahakumbh is concerned, our intent is to make it a better experience for the visitors thronging the mela.
We are in the advisory role or a support system to the organisers. We do the job of standardising different aspects related to the organisation and management of such events.
Are you working in collaboration with UP government agencies?
I won’t call it collaboration but it is a suo motu initiative to complement the journey and do value addition where ever we can. We have been organising Kumbh conclaves. This time, we have been a part of the Kumbh conclaves organised in association with the Tourism Department of Uttar Pradesh across 40 cities the country.
It is an initiative to bring together the corporate, new age audience as well as those belonging to GenZ who can look at Kumbh not only as a holy place of religious significance but also getting experiences to the benefit of everyone visiting there.
So Kumbh Conclave in different cities were organised in order to standardise the management pattern of the event. The focus of our deliberations remains on making creating a plastic-free ecosystem, ensuring greater sustainability, making it convenient for senior citizens, expecting mothers and kids with better vigilance, and smoother unification of those who get lost in the meal.
When did you start organising these Kumbh conclaves?
We started organising the conclaves six months prior to the Mela. We partnered with an organisation called India Think Council to conduct these conclaves across the country.
The purpose is to seamline the corporate, the common man, the volunteer and those presently working in urban India so that they could contribute and add value to the existing ecosystem as Kumbh is not only limited to saints and seers but also to people like you and me.
Is your organization also coming up with a tent city in Mahakumbhnagar in Prayagraj?
No. There is a tent city – Kumbh Canvas - which has been set up by Uttar Pradesh government. UP Tourism has set up this tent city comprising over 2,000 tents. I am closely working with multiple operators there to standardize the look, the feel and the experience besides adding value from a consumer point of view across the tent cities.
How are you making the tents special to enhance the experience of the visitors?
First, awareness is the key. Secondly, people should not be misguided. It starts with the booking of a tent. There are so many false websites creating major problem as they are duping the consumers.
To cope with this situation, the UP government, the cyber cell department of UP police and Mela Pradikaran Adhikari have shortlisted some 54 websites which are fraudulent and trying to take bookings.
As a case study, in Kedarnath, some people are engaged in booking choppers. Those who pay for chopper booking end up spending handsome amounts. When they meet at Kedarnath Chopper meeting point, they are made to understand that the documents they were provided with are fake.
Similar forces are also active in Mahakumbh as well. People usually book tents online because it is cheaper and at a discount. Eventually, when they reach these tent cities, they find that they have been duped as no tent exists there.
So my advice through your publication to all those who are planning to visit Mahakumbh is that platforms like IRCTC and Make My Trip (MMT) are the standardised websites through which bookings should be done.
What are the amenities being provided in tent cities at Mahakumbh
Premium facilities are being provided there. The price of tents ranges from Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 per room per night.
Each tent is a double-bedroom set. There is a sit-out area, a washroom equipped with all the facilities, there are spaces for storage.
Moreover, multiple events are also taking place in tent cities for the entertainment of the guests. Keertan and bhajans evenings are organised. Satsangs (religious gatherings) also take place.
Apart from that, the UP government has put in a lot of effort in organizing larger cultural and devotional events as well as the saints and seers of 13 Akharas (Hindu Monastic Orders) are also participating.
All this makes out a huge opportunity for the common man to get an interface with them (sadhus), clicking pictures and exploring more about them besides taking their blessings.
Is this your first such endeavour in UP?
No, I had been there during earlier Kumbh in 2019. We had the opportunity to closely work, learn and understand different aspects of organising such events besides getting ready for the present Mahakumbh.
However, last time, there was a huge impact of COVID. So it was a limited exposure but we got to learn from Haridwar Ardh-Kumbh a lot. Thus experiences taken from various events consolidated making our endeavour larger this time.
Apart from Kumbh, have you been a part of any other big religious event?
I run the organisation called Temple Connect which has connected more than 11,106 temples across 58 countries. We worked during the launch of Ayodhya Ram Mandir on January 22, 2024. We worked on the design, the décor, the look and feel and also the arrangements at the Ram Mandir launch.
Moreover, we have also launched a temple management course six months back at Mumbai University, Pune University and Welingkar Institute of Management.
We also organise an event called ‘International Temples Convention and Expo’ annually. Last year it was in Varanasi. This year it is happening at Tirupati on February 17, 18, 19. Over 1500 temple CEOs and heads will participate in the expo will take part in it.