Kumbh Mela--Meeting ground for freedom fighters during British Raj

Kumbh Mela, the world's largest gathering of religious pilgrims, served as the meeting ground for pro-independence forces during the British rule, with intelligence agencies keeping a hawk's eye on such gatherings.

An excerpt from a British-era communication by the Director, Central Intelligence (dated February 2, 1920) displayed at an archival exhibition at the Allahabad Museum here states that the Mela played a crucial role during the freedom struggle.

It talks about a memorial adopted in a meeting held at Allahabad during the Kumbh Mela, 1918, stating, "The memorial supported the Congress League scheme of political reforms and made demands such as:
The excerpt also states, "The memorial was adopted by a meeting of 300 delegates and 2,000 visitors held at Allahabad in 1918 during the Kumbh Mela, which is much frequented by cultivators. This meeting also agreed on the foundation of
UP Peasants Association which among other objects, proposed to check the growing antagonism between zamindars and tenants and to further mutual trust and cordiality between the rulers and the ruled."