Rishikul Kumbh Cottages

Considering the magnitude of Mahakumbh 2025, this property did a decent job in arranging accommodations & food. Our tents had all basic amenities like warm bedding, charging outlets, toiletries, bottled water, electric kettle, luggage rack with hangers. PROS: -safe, quiet tents with attached bathrooms⛺️ -3 meals included everyday & the food is awesome! Catering & dining staff are some of the nicest people we met at Mahakumbh 😊 - every evening, they conducted Bhaagavat kathas inside the premises. -Rishikul has a private ghat behind the tents, very quiet and not crowded at all. You can sit and enjoy the mornings & evenings. 🧘🏽‍♀️ CONS: - nights were freezing. No portable heaters, or heating pads. For senior citizens, this is horribly dangerous. My elderly mother caught a heavy cold from the freezing nights in a tent with no heat. - housekeeping is non-existent. We have to walk to the reception everyday & request for cleaning & restock of towels, bottled water, tea bags, etc. - Rishkul advertises " own boats to Sangam for snan". But it's actually a lie. Forget about a boat, they won't even bother to help with transportation of any type. -Rishikul also advertised "Akhada Tours", but this was also a lie, totally non-existent. -Rishikul is at the end of the entire Mela, the very last sector #25. So transportation can be very, very difficult to obtain since no autorickshaw or motorbike wants to go so far.

We managed to book a room for Kumbh Mela 2025 with just few weeks advance notice, thus I am thankful we found one and the overall experience was great!! Said so, dealing with the camp has been a major struggle, most likely cause most tourists are Indian and the staff is not really used to an international crowd. Ever since booking we tried to arrange a pick-up transfer from Varanasi. Despite tens of emails the answers received were always vague and we finally had to arrange the transfer elsewhere. Also, the subsequent exchanges with the person in charge of the daily activities (walking tours,..) were as inefficient and frustrating. What pains me a bit is that the camp makes ample use of mentioning they are the top rated on TripAdvisor. This is factually correct but I wonder how it is possible. The room/tent were ok-ish (not really a luxury tent, freezing cold at night and hot during the day, lots of dust as surrounded by sand..but not sure much more can be expected). The food was really good! Location, within the overall grounds of Kumbh Mela, was whatever (not great but not awful).

Rishikul Kumbh Cottages offered a pleasant experience with a few hiccups. The natural setting near the Sangam was lovely, and we enjoyed the peaceful environment and sight-seeing. The meals were healthy and fresh, though a bit repetitive over a longer stay. The staff was generally helpful, though there were sometimes moments of miscommunication. Overall, a good stay with potential for a better experience.