Catch up TV

Episode 25 June 2025

Journalist and presenter Amol Rajan travels to India on a deeply personal pilgrimage to the largest religious festival in history, the Kumbh Mela. Amol was born in India to a practising Hindu family, although he considers himself to be a non-believer. He’s struggled, however, to come to terms with the death of his father three years ago, and now he wonders if reconnecting with his birthplace, at one of Hinduism's most important religious events, could help him process his grief.\n\nThe Hindu festival, which takes place every 12 years, will be the largest gathering in human history, and this year's Kumbh is a once-in-a-lifetime event due to a special alignment of the planets in the solar system, which last occurred 144 years ago.\n \nAmol joins over 500 million pilgrims from all over the globe with one goal: to bathe in the sacred waters where the Ganges, Yamuna and mystical Saraswati meet, to purify their souls and gain salvation for themselves and their families. By taking part in this ritual, it's said Amol can release his father’s soul from the never-ending cycle of life and death.\n \nBut attending the largest gathering of people in history is not without risks, and Amol comes face to face with the tragic side of such a pilgrimage. On the most auspicious day for bathing, an estimated 60 million people arrive at the festival, and there is a crush that leads to reports of at least 30 pilgrims dying and more being injured. Amol must abandon his plans as surging crowds cause chaos and confusion. While the authorities race to keep the festival going safely, he must navigate this sudden and tragic turn of events and assess whether to make it to the river at all, and if he can't, what this will mean for his own journey through grief.

Source: BBC 1