Amish Tripathi, renowned author and spiritual thinker, recently extended an invitation to tech magnate Elon Musk to attend this year’s Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. 

In an exclusive interview with NDTV’s Hardika Gupta, Amish explained that Elon found the festival “fascinating”, especially the idea that it represents the largest gathering of people for religious and cultural purposes.

He said, “I did invite Elon Musk to the Kumbh Mela. He mentioned at that time that he found the festival and all the details about it extremely intriguing. The Maha Kumbh is the largest gathering of humanity ever, and the fact that Indians have been gathering in this manner for religious and cultural reasons for millennia – people from every age group – is something that fascinates most people, including Elon.”

Revealing the reason behind the Tesla CEO’s inability to attend the Maha Kumbh, Amish said, “His office later got back to us, but due to his already packed schedule, especially because of the new role he has taken on in the US government, he won’t be able to attend.”

Elon Musk was fascinated by the scale of the Kumbh Mela, which attracts millions of people from all over the world. Tripathi shared, “Elon was fascinated by the sheer scale of the event – 415 million people. That was the number when we initially discussed it, but now it’s turning out to be around 500 million. If it were an independent country, it would probably be the third-largest country on Earth, just the Maha Kumbh by itself.” 

Elon also expressed awe at the longevity of the Kumbh tradition, which has been observed without interruption for millennia. “The fact that Indians have been celebrating and gathering for the Kumbh for millennia, without fail. It’s a tradition, an unbroken tradition that goes back so long, and many other cultures could not keep their traditions alive. That fascinated him too.”

The tech magnate was also intrigued by the spiritual elements of the Kumbh Mela, especially its connection to the movement of planets. Tripathi concluded, “He was also intrigued by the links with the planets. I explained how the timing of the Kumbh is actually linked to the planet Jupiter. That intrigued him as well, and of course, the spiritual dimensions of the event also caught his attention.”