Maha Kumbh or Coldplay? India’s Google searches reveal a surprising divide across states | Trending

Over the past three months, two major events have captivated Indians nationwide—the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj and British band Coldplay’s concerts in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Both events have dominated news headlines and social media, drawing massive crowds of devotees and fans since November. India in Pixels analysed Google searched from November to January to determine which Indian state chose Coldplay over Maha Kumbh.(X/@indiainpixels) On X, the account India In Pixels shared a fascinating map analysing which Indian states Googled “Coldplay” more and which preferred to look up “Maha Kumbh.” “Did your state Google more ‘Coldplay’ or ‘Maha Kumbh’ in the last 90 days?” the post asked. The map used blue for states with higher searches for Coldplay and red for those more interested in Maha Kumbh, ranking them on a scale from -100 (Coldplay) to 100 (Maha Kumbh) on the basis of Google Trends since November. Take a look at the map here: Coldplay vs Maha KumbhAccording to the data shared India in Pixels, Bihar was the state that Googled Maha Kumbh the most. On the other hand, Coldplay was the more popular search in Mizoram. Among the states that preferred to learn about the Maha Kumbh were Northern states of UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. For Coldplay, the biggest fans seem to be in the northeast as Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya chose to search about Coldplay over Maha Kumbh. Southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry also preferred the Grammay-winning band. Meanwhile, Goa was ranked at 0, balancing the searched for both the events equally. Even though Gujarat and Maharashtra hosted multiple Coldplay’s concerts, Google searches in the two states gravitated towards the Maha Kumbh. Internet reacts to debateThe post quickly gained over 600,000 views and users flooded the comments to speculate why each state preferred a specific event over the other. “The data is not appropriate as Coldplay was talk of the town in November December, whereas Kumbh Mela come talk of the town in January. I think you should compare from November 2024 to February 2025, then come with Data, that will be the appropriate,” suggested one of them. Another user suggested that most devotees to Maha Kumbh may not have used the internet to learn about it unlike Coldplay’s urban fans. “Do not compare these. Categories are completely different. Coldplay is an Urban entertainment only,” they said. A third user pointed out that Maha Kumbh might not have been the topic of discussion online in Tamil Nadu as the state has its own Kumbh called the Mahamaham that takes place every 12 years in the Mahamaham tank in Kumbakonam. (Also read: ‘Loved the concert, hated the humanity’: Man claims harrowing experience at Ahmedabad Coldplay concert)