This Mumbai mother-daughter duo embarked on a trip from Goregaon to Prayagraj

The road from Mumbai to Prayagraj stretches long and endless cutting through bustling towns quiet villages and dense forests The landscape shifts from urban skylines to open highways and finally to the sacred city where the Maha Kumbh Mela is currently happening Held from January 13 to February 26 this celestial event which occurs every 144 years is the largest religious human gathering in the world drawing millions of devotees and spiritual seekers to cleanse themselves through a sacred dip in the holy watersFor Sunita Pandey and her daughter Diya the road to Kumbh was no ordinary journey It was a spontaneous decision and more importantly a pilgrimage born out of an unshakeable calling to witness Maha Kumbh 2025Sunitamdasha businesswoman who runs a cloth manufacturing company named Varalakshmi Ethnic Wear LLP that supplies materials for various brands including Soch Chennai Silk Taruni Seasons and Pothismdashhad initially travelled from Mumbai to Delhi for a wedding In the midst of the celebrations a thought struck her if she could take time off from her busy schedule for a wedding why not for Maha Kumbh which is a onceinalifetime spiritual gatheringThe duo passed through Nagpur and Pench which was especially scenic because they saw elephants a cheetah and even a leopard crossing the road right in front of their carThis is when Sunita decided that attending the event was a must ldquoThe whole trip was very lastminuterdquo she recalls ldquoOnce I decided I definitely wanted to attend the Mela we started looking at flight ticket prices and oh boy they were expensive And there were three of usmdashmy business associate my daughter and I Funding a flight trip with that kind of price was way above my budget So thatrsquos when we planned to go by carrdquoldquoMy mom and I are both very big fans of road tripsrdquo adds Diya a 22yearold B Tech student at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies NMIMS The spontaneity of it all made the 24hour journey even more exciting Within two hours of their decision they packed their bags and set off at 8 am on January 23 embarking on the 1400kilometer journey from their home in Goregaon West to PrayagrajTheir first stop was Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh about 12 hours into the journey Finding a hotel at the last minute proved to be a challenge but they finally secured a stay at Royal Orbit Hotel which was just off the Jabalpur Highway and was a welcome respite from the roadThe Maha Kumbh Mela being held from January 13 to February 26 this year is the largest religious gathering in the worldldquoA cousin of mine who lives in Ayodhya suggested that since we were already in Jabalpur we should definitely visit Maihar Devi Temple which is also a Shakti Peethrdquo recalls SunitaA Shakti Peeth is a sacred shrine dedicated to the goddess Shakti and is considered a place of immense spiritual energy There are 51 Shakti Peeths in India each associated with different legends of the goddessrsquos divine powerThe temple perched atop a hill was accessible via a ropeway The experience of soaring up toward the sacred site added an unexpected dimension to their tripmdasha moment that Sunita describes as one of peace and reflection ldquoIt was amazing how along with Maha Kumbh we could also experience visiting a Shakti Peethrdquo adds DiyaAfter their visit to this holy shrine the Pandeys reembarked on our journey to Prayagraj Their journey continued along the Samruddhi Mahamarg also known as the MumbaiNagpur ExpresswayldquoIt was a very smooth journeyrdquo recalls Diya ldquoWe passed through Nagpur and Pench which was especially scenic because the car was moving through the forestmdashwe saw elephants a cheetah and even a majestic leopard crossing the road right in front of our car This is not something you can see while travelling by flightrdquo she exclaims ldquoWith a flight you get on board and then reach your destination Road trips are all about experiencing the journeyrdquoBy nightfall on January 24 they reached Prayagraj and checked into VIP tents in Naini a satellite town on the outskirts The accommodations despite costing R10000 per night were comfortable with clean facilitiesmdasha muchneeded convenience given the magnitude of the eventAt 5 am the next morning they joined the band of devotees making their way toward the river for the sacred snan Walking a few kilometers from their stay they boarded a boat to the Triveni Sangam which is the confluence of the holy rivers of Ganga Yamuna and SaraswatildquoRiding the boat was a surreal experiencemdashI could see devotees in their element on the ghats migrant birds flying overhead cool winds blowing over our faces the sun risingmdashand the whole experience was just magicalrdquo says Pandey ldquoWhen we passed the Triveni Sangam it was beyond scenicrdquoldquoFrom the boat we were in we hopped onto another still boat that was parked at one of the ghats From there we could go down into the river which was only about three feet deep and dip ourselves into the holy watersrdquo recalls SunitaAfter the ritual bath they wandered through the Mela attending a Ram Katha sermon by Morari Bapu and just exploring By evening they packed their bags and set off on the return trip to MumbaildquoWhen I returned to Mumbai I was a completely new personrdquo shares Diya ldquoI felt like I had become more accepting of new things and had let go of the ones that were hurting me rdquo