A graphic (here, here, and here) with a quote from the Union Home Minister Amit Shah is viral on social media. The text on the graphic translated into English reads, “I have been to Kumbh 9 times in my life. I have also seen Ardhakumbh. I am going to Mahakumbh on 27th January. You all should go too.” Users are sharing this and expressing scepticism over his remark on how he could have visited Kumbh Mela 9 times when the Mela is conducted once in 12 years, which means he visited the Mela for the first time 108 years ago (12×9=108.) According to the official government records, Amit Shah is 60 years old. We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Amit Shah said that he visited the Kumbh Mela, which occurs once every 12 years, 9 times (12×9=108) in his lifetime.
Fact: Amith Shah said this during a meeting in Ahmedabad on 23 January 2024. Encouraging the attendees to visit the Maha Kumbh Mela, he said that he has been to the Kumbh Mela 9 times in his life, including the Ardha Kumbh. Contrary to the claim that Kumbh Mela is celebrated once in 12 years, Kumbh Mela is celebrated four times over 12 years in four different places across India. Ardha Kumbh Mela is celebrated every sixth year. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we performed a keyword search and found that the graphic seen in the viral post was originally uploaded (here and here) by News 24 (its logo can be seen in the viral graphic, too.)
A further search revealed that Amit Shah made these statements during the inaugural meeting of the Hindu Adhyatmik and Seva Mela held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on 23 January 2025. In the speech uploaded on the official verified channel Amit Shah, you can see him making these statements at 11:53. He appealed to the audience of this meeting to visit the Kumbh Mela and said ‘“I have been to Kumbh 9 times in my life. I have also seen Ardhakumbh. I am going to Mahakumbh on 27th January. You all should go too.”
We then searched to verify the claim made in the post that the Kumbh Mela is conducted once every 12 years. We found articles (here and here) on the official ‘Government of India’ websites that said that the Kumbh Mela is conducted four times every 12 years.
According to Indiaculture.gov.in, “it is celebrated four times every 12 years, the site of the observation rotating between four pilgrimages on the four sacred rivers at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Ardha (half) Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Haridwar and Allahabad, every sixth year. And a Maha Kumbh is held every 144 years.” Kumbh Mela is celebrated in these four places based on the astrological calculations. This makes it clear that the users sharing the viral post are misleading by stating that the Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 12 years. Amit Shah said in his speech that he visited Kumbh Mela 9 times in his life, including Ardh Kumbh Mela(this is seen in the viral graphic, too.)
To sum up, Kumbh Mela is celebrated four times every 12 years, not once every 12 years.
