On November 6 at the Asia Society in New York, Harvard faculty leaders, representing Harvard Business School, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, will discuss their experience studying the world’s largest festival, the Kumbh Mela in India. Because of its size and complexity, the 2013 Kumbh Mela, inspired the Harvard South Asia Institute’s flagship multi-year interdisciplinary research project in a number of complementary fields: business, technology and communications, urban studies and design, religious and cultural studies, and public health. Over fifty Harvard professors, students, administrative staff, and medical practitioners made the pilgrimage to Allahabad, India to analyze issues that emerge in any large-scale human gathering. Launched in 2015, the Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity book and exhibition consolidate research findings and serve as an example of interdisciplinary research conducted at Harvard.

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