Kumbh Melas, the largest peaceful human congregation on Earth, have been celebrated as a pilgrimage at four sacred sites of Bharat for centuries. Kumbh Mela is a rare occasion where the astounding range of Hindu life and practices, textual and folk, temporal and spatial, and organic and cosmic, physical and spiritual, come together. The Kumbh Mela also provides an opportunity for scholars, thinkers, seekers and ascetics to contemplate on a diverse set of issues relevant to society.
To celebrate this spirit of Mahakumbh, India Foundation, in collaboration with the Government of Uttar Pradesh, organised the ‘Kumbh Global Summit on Development and Sustainability’, where leaders, scholars, and experts from different fields came together to talk about net zero development, an energy-neutral society, challenges of climate change, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and solutions such as Life Style for Environment (LiFE).
The Kumbh Global Summit, convened on 21st February 2025 in the historic city of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, commenced with a pre-inaugural session titled ‘Integrating Dharma and Governance: A Holistic Approach to Sustainable Development’. The session included esteemed speakers like Justice (Retd.) U.U. Lalit, former Chief Justice of India, and Shri Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of Oxford Hindu Studies. Major General Dhruv Katoch, Director of the India Foundation, served as the moderator for the session.
The pre-inaugural session was followed by an inaugural session, which was addressed by Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Government of India; Shri Nand Gopal Gupta, Minister for Industrial Development, Export Promotion, NRI, and Investment Promotion, Government of UP; Shri Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister for Railways and Civil Aviation; and Dr Ram Madhav, President of India Foundation. The inaugural session was followed by the ministers’ session, which comprised a panel of 10 ministers from 9 countries. Delegates from more than 16 countries participated in the summit as speakers in different panels and presentation sessions. The summit was attended by participants from a wide range of backgrounds, including academia, diplomacy, business, research, banking, etc. The summit concluded with a breathtaking cultural performance at the cultural night by noted playback singer, live performer and composer Shri Kailash Kher, which was organised by India Foundation in collaboration with the Government of UP.
