The Global Spiritual Spectacle And The IITians In Tow in Prayagraj

New Delhi /Prayagraj: As the Mahakumbh 2025 unfolds, it’s not just the usual seekers; the spectacle has become a full-blown melange and not just of saffron- robed mystics. Alongside the naga sadhus, swamis and influencers, a curious collection of IITians, scientists, and engineers from around the world are flooding into the Kumbh grounds, navigating the sacred waters with all the finesse of a high-level algorithm being debugged.

There they are: bright-eyed, freshly washed faces from Silicon Valley, France, and Tokyo, furiously snapping pictures of prasad, as if the nectar of divinity could be somehow encoded into their digital cameras. Their approach to spirituality seems somewhat like their approach to coding— solving the meaning of life like a complex problem set. Their minds, sharp and anal

ytical, puzzle over the mysteries of the universe. But here, at the confluence of faith and devotion, they find themselves inexplicably debugged, as if the bugs in their spiritual systems have been temporarily wiped away by the holy waters of the Ganges.

One engineer, whose LinkedIn profile reads like a who’s-who of global tech giants, stands there with a bemused smile, gazing at Harsha Richariya (social media model turned sadhvi ) as if she’s an unexplained variable in a quantum equation. She’s the perfect paradox: a beauty whose career once involved hosting elite destination weddings and now, sporting Bhagwa robes, declaring her love for Lord Shiva. For this technocrat, it’s the equivalent of encountering a code that doesn’t need fixing, but still fascinates the programmer.

The crowd, a kaleidoscope of nerdy brilliance and newfound spirituality, roams the grounds in packs. They listen intently to any mystic that offers the most logical-sounding explanation of the cosmos, nodding as though someone’s finally given them the right formula to understand the universe. You might even catch a young scientist, mid-self- reflection, scribbling equations in his notebook, perhaps attempting to bridge the gap between the known laws of physics and the unknown energies of the divine.

In all this, Harsha and her global followers —including these highly credentialed problem solvers—blend together in a cosmic soup. No questions asked, no entry exams. Whether you’re an IIT graduate grappling with strings of code or a free spirit looking for answers beyond the spreadsheet, the gates of Mahakumbh are wide open. Sanatan Dharma welcomes all, and the vastness of its wisdom has space for those who’ve built rockets to the moon and those who’ve found peace in a quiet corner of Rishikesh.

The scene is nothing short of extraordinary, world-class engineers seeking nirvana next to Instagram influencers and you tubers posing for the perfect selfie. And among them, Harsha stands, weaving through the throng— part spiritual guide, part cultural phenomenon —while the IITians and scientists, who typically dissect problems with the precision of surgeons, now find themselves attempting to analyze an experience that can’t be parsed through equations or machine learning models.

As this vast melee of intellects, influencers, and devotees presses forward, one thing is certain, in the world of Sanatan Dharma, anyone can come. Whether you’ve built an empire in tech or are simply seeking inner peace, the only requirement is an open mind. And just like that, the greatest minds of the world—engineers, scientists, and spiritual seekers alike—stand together, embraced by the divine chaos that is the Mahakumbh.

It’s like a never-ending tech conference mixed with a spiritual retreat — No RSVP required..

*Dr. Naresh Purohit, MD, DNB,DIH, MHA, MRCP is an advisor to Govt. of India on Community Health,  and Epidemiologist, and Advisor-National Communicable Disease Control Program. Also, Advisor- National Mental Health Programme.

He’s also Executive Member of Association of  Hospital Administration .