Maha Kumbh, or Maha Kumbh Mela, is a grand gathering of Hindus. It is one of the most sacred and grand religious gatherings in Hinduism. The time of Maha Kumbh is calculated according to the Hindu calendar and astronomy, and it revolves every 12 years. In certain years, the Maha Kumbh Mela will be held in one of the four holy places for several weeks. The four holy places are Allahabad (now renamed Prayagraj), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. During the Maha Kumbh Mela, believers from all over India will gather in these holy places to bathe, pray and meditate in order to wash away their sins, obtain spiritual liberation and happiness in the afterlife.
The 2025 Kumbh Mela will begin in Prayagraj on January 13, with the government expecting about 450 million devotees to attend the religious carnival, which is recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, and features the largest peaceful gathering of pilgrims taking a dip in a sacred river. The Mahakumbh will last for 45 days until February 26, 2025.
Regarding the arrangements made for the event, U.P. Cabinet Secretary Suresh Khanna said that three technical methods will be used to count the number of people visiting the event. The first is an AI-enabled camera: This camera helps in distinguishing between categories such as humans, vehicles and animals. It can capture high-quality images while avoiding irrelevant information; the second is RFID wristbands, which will be provided to pilgrims. Through these wristbands, the entry and exit times will be tracked by RFID readers; the third method is mobile application tracking, and with the consent of the pilgrims, their location will be tracked using a mobile application through GPS.
Advantages of RFID in counting the number of pilgrims
RFID technology has many advantages in counting pilgrims, including contactless identification, simultaneous identification of multiple tags, long-distance identification, data security and privacy protection, strong adaptability and flexibility, and improved management efficiency. These advantages make RFID technology an important tool for organizing large-scale pilgrimages, ensuring the safety of pilgrims, and conducting subsequent data analysis. Specifically, these advantages are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
1. Contactless identification
The primary advantage of RFID technology lies in its contactless identification method. The reader can read the information in the RFID tag through radio waves without directly contacting the RFID tag. This feature enables RFID technology to quickly and accurately identify and record the information of pilgrims in crowded and complex pilgrimage sites, avoiding the time consumption and physical wear caused by contact operations.
2. Simultaneous identification of multiple tags
Compared with traditional identification methods (such as barcode scanning), RFID technology can identify multiple tags at the same time. In pilgrimage activities, this means that the RFID system can track and record the information of a large number of pilgrims at the same time, greatly improving statistical efficiency and accuracy. This is of great significance for organizing large-scale pilgrimage activities, ensuring the safety of pilgrims, and conducting subsequent data analysis.
3. Long-distance identification
RFID technology has the ability to identify over long distances, allowing readers to identify tags at a longer distance. This feature is particularly important in pilgrimage activities, because pilgrims may be scattered in a wide venue or difficult to approach due to dense crowds. RFID technology can ensure that even in this case, the information of pilgrims can be accurately tracked and recorded.
4. Data security and privacy protection
RFID technology can ensure the integrity and security of data in tags by adopting security measures such as encryption and authentication. This is essential to protect the personal privacy of pilgrims. At the same time, the RFID system can also realize the remote transmission and real-time monitoring of data, providing comprehensive data management and analysis services for organizers. This capability helps to build a trusted digital environment and protect the legitimate rights and interests of pilgrims and organizers.
5. Strong adaptability and flexibility
RFID tags can be embedded or attached to items of various shapes and types, such as pilgrims' bracelets, cards, etc. This allows RFID technology to be flexibly applied to various pilgrimage scenarios to meet the needs of different organizations. In addition, the RFID system can be customized and expanded as needed to adapt to the changing needs of pilgrimage activities.
6. Improve management efficiency:
Through RFID technology, organizers can monitor the flow of pilgrims in real time, dispatch resources in a timely manner, and ensure the smooth progress of pilgrimage activities. At the same time, RFID technology can also help organizers better understand the needs and behavioral habits of pilgrims, and provide data support for future event planning.
This paper is from Ulink Media, Shenzhen, China, the organizer of IOTE EXPO (IoT Expo in China)
