An old video of foreign saint who walked from Switzerland to Haridwar shared linking to Maha Kumbh Mela 2025

This viral video from 2021 features Ben Baba of Switzerland, who walked from his home country to join the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.

Mahakumbh Mela 2025 officially commenced on 13 January, 2025 continuing until 26 February, 2025 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The mela is held every 12 years and attracts millions of pilgrims, saints, and tourists.

Amidst this, a video of an interview of a saffron-clad man from Switzerland speaking in fluent Hindi is going viral on social media. The users who shared the video claims that the man walked from Switzerland to India to attend the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. 

Let’s check the truth

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Fact Check- 

We listened to the viral video carefully and noticed that the interviewer asked the man how many days it took him to reach Haridwar from Himachal Pradesh. To this, the man replied, “It took me 25 days. Additionally, on analyzing the video completely, at the 3:46-minute timestamp, there appears a text on the video that reads “Kumbh 2021.”

Keeping this in mind, we conducted further keyword search and the results led us to a video uploaded on YouTube by Gautam Khattar, on 22 March, 2021. In the beginning video, the anchor said that he was in Haridwar and introduced the monk as “Ben Baba” from Switzerland. The title of the report read: “Haridwar Kumbh 2021॥ Switzerland BEN BABA reached Maha Kumbh Mela after walking for 4 consecutive years.”

The Description part states, “You all are aware that the world’s biggest fair Mahakumbh is being organized in Haridwar in which we are introducing you to the discussions and dialogues of the sages. In this series we will introduce you to Bel Baba of Switzerland who reached India in 4 years after passing through 18 countries.”

Around 6:56 minutes in the video, we spotted the viral video, where he says that he travelled on foot for four years to reach India from Switzerland. He also adds that he has been walking across India for one year.

Moving forward, we found a report by Life Beyond Numbers, published on 3 May, 2021, whose headline read: “This Techie Walked All The Way From Switzerland To India To Attain Spirituality.”  As per the report, “Ben, now fondly called Ben Baba. Ben is a 29-year-old techie-turned-saint from Switzerland who left his occupation and lifestyle and headed to India on foot five years ago in search of peace of mind. Baba remains barefoot not just while walking, but all the time.  He reached Haridwar for Kumbh Mela after 25-days of walking from Kangra, Himachal”. His website The Hermit Crab also details the journeys, he reached India in 2020. “Dharamshala has been the intended destination of my 4-year walk since day 1,” he says on the website. An update from February 2021 states that the monk was going to Haridwar for Kumbh Mela after “6 months of sedentary life in the town of Dharamshala”

In further search, we found YouTube channel of Ben Viatte, popularly known as ‘Ben Baba from Switzerland,’ listing multiple videos from his walk to India. 

All these evidences confirms that the video dates back to 2021 and shows Ben Baba of Switzerland, who walked from his country to attend the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.

Conclusion- Fact crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. This viral video from 2021 features Ben Baba of Switzerland, who walked from his home country to join the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.