Dettol X Kumbh Mela – Nasik | Ujjain

The Goal

The Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest human congregation, with more than 30 million pilgrims gathering in Nashik over 58 days to seek spiritual salvation. While it epitomizes devotion and faith, it also brings critical challenges: the risk of disease outbreaks due to unhygienic conditions and the immense strain on the city’s water resources. In 2015, with weak monsoons causing acute shortages, Nashik faced an uphill battle to provide for millions of visitors.

Dettol, under its Banega Swachh India initiative, wanted to intervene meaningfully-by promoting healthy handwashing habits to prevent illnesses like diarrhea and asthma, while also ensuring water was used responsibly. The vision was ambitious: create an initiative that educated, protected, and conserved at an unprecedented scale.

The Outcome

Our team partnered with Dettol to bring this vision to life on the ground. From concept to execution, we managed the liaison with local authorities, ensured logistics were seamless, and oversaw merchandising, volunteer deployment, and crowd engagement across the mela grounds.

Together with Dettol, we designed an activation that blended innovation with practicality:

Volunteers were stationed across the mela distributing 66,624 Dettol sanitizer bottles, each enabling around 100 waterless handwashes-saving over 33.3 lakh liters of water.
Specially designed spray faucets paired with Dettol liquid handwash allowed complete handwashing with just 100ml of water compared to the usual 500ml, saving an additional 17,520 liters of water across 43,800 handwashes.
Radio promotions and leaflets reinforced awareness, ensuring the message of hygiene and conservation reached far beyond just those who interacted directly with the stations.

The campaign not only solved practical problems but also demonstrated how large-scale gatherings could be managed sustainably with the right mix of planning, creativity, and precision execution.

The Feedback

The initiative was hailed as a landmark success. Pilgrims appreciated the ease and accessibility of the handwash systems, while authorities recognized the water conservation impact during a time of scarcity. The media celebrated it as a pioneering example of brand responsibility at scale. Dettol strengthened its reputation as the champion of hygiene in India, while our team’s role in liaisoning, logistics, and flawless on-ground delivery was acknowledged as a key factor in turning a bold idea into reality. Together, we ensured the 2015 Kumbh became one of the safest and most hygienic in history.