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It is good be stuck in a crowd, says a new study. It claims that being in between a crowd, during a difficult time could be good for the wellbeing.

According to the study, which was conducted on the biggest religious festival on earth, the Magh Mela, participation in large-scale events comforts a person psychologically.

The festival in Allahabad, Northern India, is particularly challenging because of the demanding conditions in which the participants live, often sleeping on the ground in near freezing conditions for a whole month, Medical Xpress reports.

In spite of the physical hardships that the participants of the event had to go through, the current study found that they reported enhanced physical and mental well-being after the event.

"The Magh Mela is probably the greatest event on earth. Over the month of the festival many millions of people can attend. As a result, it is densely crowded, extremely noisy and the sanitary conditions are rudimentary at least. All this would suggest that the event would be stressful and a threat to health and well-being, but what we found is that attending the Mela is actually good for people," Professor Stephen Reicher, an expert in crowd behavior at the University of St Andrews, commented.  

For the study, the researchers checked and compared the well-being of a sample of non-attendees and attendees before and after the festival.

In spite of bathing every day in the cold Ganges water and sleeping in flimsy tents frequently flooded by rain, apparently, it was the pilgrims who were found to have improvements in their overall well-being.

"It creates a sense that, with such support, one is better able to deal with the challenges of everyday life. And this sense enhances mental and physical well-being. Indeed, those who attended the pilgrimage reported less headaches and less aches and pains amongst other improvements," Professor Reicher said.

The Economic and Social Research Council funded study was carried out in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Allahabad in India, the University of Exeter, and Queen's University Belfast.

"The Mela is huge, crowded and noisy; the conditions are often harsh and the pilgrims give up all their home comforts. One might have thought that it would take a toll on the health of these people, many of whom are frail and elderly. But to the contrary, it brings them together in a way that actually improves their wellbeing. This is one more remarkable aspect of a quite remarkable event," Professor Narayanan Srinivasan, from the University of Allahabad commented.

Dr Nick Hopkins, of the University of Dundee, was Head of the UK-based side of the team concluded: "This is an important study that, for the first time, demonstrates that taking part in crowd events can have important consequences for one's life outside the crowd. Moreover, against a background where so many people highlight the negatives of crowds, this work shows that crowds can actually be good for you!"