US-based travel vlogger Drew Binsky has finally shared his painful and disappointing journey about not witnessing Maha Kumbh Mela 2025, for which he had been preparing for several months. His viral Instagram story reflects the extent of challenges that he faced while trying to reach one of the world’s biggest religious congregations.
Binsky had planned his trip to the Maha Kumbh Mela for more than a year. What was supposed to be a hassle-free journey turned out to be a nightmare as he got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an agonizing 19 hours, 21 kilometers from Prayagraj, where the Mela is being held. Roadblocks, police checkpoints, and thick smog were just a few of the things that came in his way.
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“I’ve seen all this: roadblocks, police checks, barricades, utter mayhem, pollution, stampedes, screams – and the closest I reached Prayagraj was 21 km,” Binsky wrote in his post. The remaining distance on foot, walking with cold winds blowing on him with his luggage was an option but he avoided that, choosing to spend the night sleeping inside the car with his driver instead.
The vlogger expressed disappointment that he was not able to attend the Mela. The Kumbh Mela is only held once every 12 years. More challenging for Binsky was the fact that he would never be able to see it in his lifetime because the next Maha Kumbh Mela will be held after 144 years. “This one hurts to miss,” he wrote, adding that this was the first time in his career that he had failed to capture a story. Since 2017, Binsky has produced over 1,200 travel videos, but this failure marked a rare moment of defeat in his travel journey.
Internet Reacts
Many of Binsky’s followers on Instagram shared mixed reactions to his post. Some sympathized with him, understanding the frustration of being so close to an iconic event only to be thwarted by unexpected circumstances. Others pointed out the vlogger had not put in place full strategies on how to execute such a massive event. Some of them said Binsky could have waited for a few more days since the event lasts for weeks or perhaps planned a more flexible approach in order to navigate through the heavy traffic.
In a lighter moment, Binsky joked that it was “India 1, Binsky 0” and said he was flying off to Beirut to “detox and catch [his] thoughts.” Although the venture has been unsuccessful for him to witness the Maha Kumbh Mela, the viral post only amplified his fame by calling into attention the unpredictable nature of travel.
The Maha Kumbh Mela is a holy event in Hinduism, during which millions throng to take a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers in Prayagraj. This particular event is set to become one of the largest human gatherings in history, with around 400 million people expected to participate.
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