New Delhi: In the election year, Kumbh mela promises to be religion, politics, business, tourism and global branding rolled into one. Mela in Allahabad starting on January 15, 2019 will not just be the traditional, religious mega congregation on the banks of the Sangam.

Plans are on to promote the event in prominent cities across the world. The Uttar Pradesh tourism department will hold road shows next month in Berlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Dublin and Copenhagen, says regional tourism officer Anupam Srivastava.

This, in itself, is a departure from the past, going beyond the all too familiar images of khadau (traditional wooden slippers), kamandal (water pot carried by Hindu holy men), kalpvas (a month-long observance of spiritual austerity on the riverbank) and moksha (salvation).

The event on the banks of the Sangam (the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati) will have seers discussing religion, businessmen exploring investment avenues and tourists pouring in for spiritual experience as well as to get a feel of real India, say analysts.

The mega religious congregation that begins on January 15 and ends on March 4 is expected to draw 120 million pilgrims, twice the population of the United Kingdom.

Kumbh Mela officer Vijay Kiran Anand says preparations are for a global audience and nearly two million foreign nationals are expected to arrive.

Special brochures will be published in Spanish, German and French carrying an in-depth history of and information about the Kumbh, Srivastava adds.

A special stall will be put up at the World Travel Mart between November 5 and 7 in London. Webcasting of the mela proceedings to 25 countries is on the cards, Anand says. A separate colony for non-resident Indians (NRI) is also on the anvil.

The state information department has been allocated a budget of ~50 crore for a mega branding exercise in the print and the electronic media at the national and international levels.