Officially, Mr. Adityanath’s administrators have rejected accusations of misusing state resources or playing politics with the Kumbh. But privately, several called the display of largess a waste.

Case in point is an enormous, festively painted plywood Kumbh Mela assembly hall that is closed most of the time. A peek through the door revealed a fantastically large space, home to 10,000 brand-new empty plastic chairs.

The Kumbh Mela is one of the holiest events on the Hindu calendar, its date determined by astrology, its auspiciousness derived from a certain line up of Jupiter, the moon and the sun. It is celebrated in four different Indian cities, each on their own 12-year Kumbh cycle, and it usually lasts several weeks.

The name Kumbh Mela comes from the Sanskrit word, kumbha, for pot or water pitcher, and mela, meaning festival. In a cherished myth, a Hindu god was carrying the nectar of immortality in a khumba and spilled drops in four different places — the four cities where the Kumbh is held.

But this year’s festival in Prayagraj, which started in January and runs until early March, is not even a full Kumbh — it is considered a half Kumbh. The half Kumbh tradition started years ago when Hindu holy men would meet every six years, halfway between the full Kumbhs, to keep their dialogue going.

But a few months ago, Mr. Adityanath declared that there is nothing incomplete in Hinduism, and the word half “doesn’t gel with this philosophy.” So, with a stroke of his pen, he upgraded the celebration of this half Kumbh into that of a full Kumbh and went on to spend three times as much as on Prayagraj’s last full Kumbh in 2013.

He also recently led his cabinet of about 25 ministers in a ritual bath in the Ganges, which, longtime Kumbh watchers said, had never happened before.