Mahakumbh: Dead Man Khunti Returns Alive

After the stampede at the Kumbh Mela on January 29, authorities pronounced Khunti Guru, a resident of Chahchand Gali in the Zero Road neighborhood of Prayagraj, dead.

At a stunning turn of events, a sixty-year-old Prayagraj native who had been missing since the stampede at Maha Kumbh on January 29 returned on foot to his home tehrvi on Tuesday. 

As the neighborhood and friends celebrated his safe return, the somber lunch swiftly transformed into a feast. The survivor claimed that he lost track of time after sharing a few chillums with a group of ascetics when asked where he had been.

The story of Khunti 

All that’s left of his formerly ideal past is the one room. In 2025, Khunti Guru is a cheerful, gregarious, and amiable neighbor in Chahchand Gali, his neighborhood. In exchange for their daily fill of gossip laced with fascinating anecdotes in the classic manner of Khunti Guru, the local shopkeepers feed him and give him clothes.

Khunti Guru chooses to sleep in the grounds of a nearby Shivala while conversing with temple priests, even though he has a bed in his chamber. He told us he was going to take a holy bath in the Gnaga on Mauni Amavasya when he went to the Snagam on the evening of the 28th, but he never came back. A day after the stampede, we looked everywhere but couldn’t find him.

For the sake of his soul, we held a brief prayer for him on Tuesday and then served a lunch to the locals and Brahmins, assuming he was dead, according to local social worker Abhai Awasthi. However, as they were preparing the meal for the Brahmins, Guru stepped out of the e-rickshaw and greeted everyone with a smile, receiving surprised and bewildered looks in return. “What are you all up to?” he asked with a smile, leaving everyone speechless.

The locals celebrated Khunti’s return

“The same puri sabji (Indian dish) and sweets were distributed among the locals later to celebrate his return,” said another neighbor. When asked where he had been all these days, Khubti Guru’s response was short and casual. “I had a few chillums with a group of Sadhus. I slept for a long time; it could have been a few days,” he explained.

He mentioned that he later joined a camp of Naga Sadhus, serving them food from various bhandaras and enjoying their hospitality. “Now that he’s back with us, no one is complaining,” Awasthi added with a smile.