Wonder and Wondertrash: The Impacts of a Maximalist Māha Kuṁbh 2025

This article considers new forms of religious maximalism in South Asian religions through an analysis of the 2025 Kuṁbh Mela, an event which Prime Minister Modi claimed 1.4 billion pilgrims attended. I question the motivations behind not only such an incredible claim, but also the broader government impetus toward the ever-increasing expansion of the Kuṁbh Melā. Using the theoretical lens of wonder, this article understands the Kuṁbh Melā as an ephemeral ‘pop-up’ city and notes concerns about ‘wondertrash’ that encumber it. In what follows, I argue that the demand to maximise contemporary Hindu formations into ever grander and more expansive—and expensive—wonder-producing exhibits engenders both social and environmental impacts. I also show how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s initiative to grow the Kuṁbh Melā can be read in terms of economic and political gain; the event is also about fostering deep connections between religion and politics, so that the domains are fully intertwined. In this view, the production of wonder coincides with the BJP’s aim to inspire and cultivate a faith in a prosperous and Hindu future for India and to project a united India bound together in Hindu ritual performance. This article suggests that in the quest to produce maximalist expressions of exclusively Hindu religiosity, despite the government’s largely successful management of a maximalist Mahā Kuṁbh Melā at Prayagraj in 2025, such a magnanimous production of wonder does not come without costs.