For many years we studied the impact of mass gatherings on health at the largest of the melas at Allahabad (Prayag) where up to 100 million people can gather at the yearly festival.
It taught us much about the key dangers and differences between events. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/12/ganges-crowds-highlight-distancing-challenges-as-covid-cases-soar-in-india

First of all, the composition of different crowds varies widely - the average kalpwasi, or pilgrim, at the Mela is in their mid-60s with amost half over 70. This obviously increases the risks in the case of COVID.

Second, different types of crowds have different collective beliefs which impact health behaviours - one key aspect of the Mela is that the body is insignificant compared to the spiritual so health matters less - and even it is auspicious to die at the Mela...

When, at a previous Mela, police tries to disperse people after a cholera outbreak they responded by saying "we won't go home, it is better to die here". In other words, where health is no longer a value, appeals to health are no longer persuasive

Third, the sense of shared identity amongst devotees at the Mela lowers the sense of disgust and danger associated with the proximity of others. People lose fear and even cherish being crowded with others that they normally would avoid.

Fourth, the Mela generates such positive emotions that it leads people to overlook symptoms of illness and forego their usual medicines - and even if they do feel bad there is a strong sense that one doesn't admit to anything negative about the Mela!

However, there is a fifth factor - perhaps the most surprising of all. In a pandemic, the psychological dynamics of the Kumbh Mela can increase the dangers to health, but in normal times perhaps the most striking thing is that it actually boosts health.

That is, participation creates a sense of connection with fellow Hindus and a sense that they will help you cope with life challenges. Perceptions of coping lower stress which in turn improves both mental and physical well being. In this sense, gatherings are good for you.

And that encapsulates the paradox of the pandemic. On the one hand physical connection is dangerous, spreads infections, costs lives. On the other hand social connections make us resilient and breaking them costs lives. So how do we stay socially together while physically apart?

And here's to the brilliant research team who carried out the Mela project
Nick Hopkins @hopkinssocpsych
Sammy Khan @khansammyh
Kavita Pandey
Shail Shankar
Narayanan Srinivasan
Shruti Tewari @shrutigyan