AI Counts 32 Lakh Devotees at Pandharpur Festival

Over 31.9 lakh devotees visited Pandharpur for the Ashadi Ekadashi celebrations held from July 24 to July 26. For the first time, the Solapur rural police utilized an AI-powered counting system, the Cognitive Visual Human Neural AI system, to accurately record the immense crowd. This technology registered a total of 31,98,129 devotees, exceeding the approximately 28 lakh pilgrims who attended last year. On July 24, 6,75,274 devotees visited, followed by 18,96,573 on Ashadi Ekadashi day, July 25, and 6,26,282 on July 26.

Officials highlighted that the AI system dramatically improved estimation accuracy by eliminating duplicate counts, a drawback of traditional camera surveillance. The system was installed at critical entry and movement points across Pandharpur. Privacy was maintained as no personal data or photographs were stored. Superintendent of Police Atul Kulkarni stated that accurate crowd estimation is vital for pilgrim safety and management, and this AI deployment will greatly benefit future crowd control and law enforcement.