The Maha Kumbha Mela Celebration in India

[Guest guest]

Namaste (The Divine in me greets the Divine in you):

 

The Hindu gesture of saying Namaste (greetings with folded hands in

front) is truely an advaitic expression. The Hindu Religious Culture

is also known for many colorful festivals. The Kumbha Mela is a

festival that occurs every 12 years in Allahabad (Prayag), India

where 45 million people converge to bathe in the sacred waters of the

Ganges, where all sins are believed to be purified. Everyone

irrespective of color, race, nationality, religion, wants to come and

participate in the holy dip and purify their heart and soul.

 

The origins of the Kumbh Mela, which means "pot of nectar," trace back

to the roots of Hindu mythology, which teaches that when the early

Hindu gods wrestled with ocean demons for control of a pot of nectar,

sacred drops were spilled along the Ganges. They landed in several

places, including Allahabad, where the Ganges merges with the Yamuna

River along with the invisible Saraswati River. The Maha Kumbha Mela

(occurs once in 144 years), the six-week Hindu festival that began

Tuesday along the Ganges River near the city of Allahabad, is expected

to draw as many as 50 million pilgrims for a mass dip in the river

that is sacred to Hindus, who believe it cleanses them of sin. This

article that appears in today's Washington Post is quite informative.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

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Festival May Draw 50 Million Hindus By Pamela Constable

Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, January 11, 2001 ; Page A20

 

NEW DELHI, Jan. 10 -- It's being called Woodstock on the Ganges, the

largest public gathering in history, the first experimental nexus

between dot-com technology and centuries-old collective ritual.

The Maha Kumbh Mela, the six-week Hindu festival that began Tuesday

along the Ganges River near the city of Allahabad, is expected to draw

as many as 50 million pilgrims for a mass dip in the river that is

sacred to Hindus, who believe it cleanses them of sin.

The event has attracted a number of Western celebrities, including

Madonna and Paul McCartney, both reported to be en route to the site

350 miles southeast of New Delhi. Tens of thousands of other Americans

and Europeans, both devotees and tourists, are flying to India to

participate.

At the other end of the spectrum are several million sadhus, or

impoverished Hindu holy men, who are making their way to Allahabad

from across India. Clad in scanty saffron-colored robes and turbans,

many are camped out at the New Delhi train station this week, dozing

on mats and bundles. The government has added dozens of trains to

Allahabad from major cities.

"The sins I have committed in many of my lives will be washed away

when I take a dip," Januna Das Hakki -- a sadhu from Rajasthan state

in the northwest, who gave his age as 108 -- said as he waited for his

train today.

Hakki, who is half-blind and can barely walk, was accompanied by two

disciples from his village, who fed him and helped him through the

station. Hakki, who has made many such trips over the years to sacred

spots on the Ganges, said he is not worried about getting lost or

trampled in the teeming riverside crowds.

"It does not matter how crowded or noisy it is," the frail old man

said in a whisper as he slumped against the station wall. "If there is

silence in your heart, that is when you are in touch with God."

The origins of the Kumbh Mela, which means "pot of nectar," trace back

to the roots of Hindu mythology, which teaches that when the early

Hindu gods wrestled with ocean demons for control of a pot of nectar,

sacred drops were spilled along the Ganges. They landed in several

places, including Allahabad, where the Ganges merges with the Yamuna

River.

In honor of this belief, millions of Hindu devotees gather there, and

at three other sacred riverside locations in India, every six or 12

years. Sleeping in makeshift camps, they dance, sing and take

cleansing plunges in the Ganges, many dressed only in saffron

loincloths and turbans.

This year the festival is special for two reasons. First, it coincides

with a rare planetary alignment, the first since 1857, that determines

when Kumbh Melas are held. This means the faithful will gather in the

largest numbers ever, so this Kumbh Mela carries the extra appellation

maha, or great.

Indian newspapers said more than 10 million people had arrived in

Allahabad by Tuesday, and 300,000 had taken their first snan, or holy

plunge in the Ganges, which is bitterly cold in midwinter. The peak of

the festival will be Jan. 24, a full-moon day that is believed to be

most auspicious for bathing.

The other reason this year's festival is special is that it is the

first major Kumbh Mela to occur in the high-technology age. Thus, it

is being advertised, hard-wired and instantly transmitted around the

globe on the Internet.

Corporations have been promoting Hindu products through numerous Web

sites, and electronic information kiosks have been placed throughout

the festival area. The event will be broadcast by several

international media agencies, including round-the-clock live coverage

by India's national TV network.

The ultramodern hype has left some devout Hindus grumbling that the

original notion of simple, collective purification from sin might be

lost in all the high-tech hoopla. It also has led to incongruous

scenes of ash-smeared, tattooed sadhus dancing or bathing next to

foreign pilgrims with cell phones.

Because of the number of people expected and the potential for

calamities of all kinds, preparations have been extraordinary. Past

Kumbh Melas, with much smaller crowds, have been marred by panic

stampedes and fights among rival groups of sadhus. Theft and fraud by

disreputable or drugged sadhus have also been common.

This year, more than 1,000 religious and cultural organizations have

set up shop, and dozens of tent cities have been erected along the

riverbanks. The government has installed 5,000 telephone connections,

15,000 streetlights, 17,000 toilets, 1,000 fire hydrants, 100 miles of

water pipes, a 100-bed hospital, 15 pontoon bridges and 200 police

posts.

In a country where friction between Hindus and Muslims dates back

centuries, authorities are also concerned about a possible terrorist

attack by Muslim guerrillas on this high-profile Hindu event. They

have deployed navy divers, metal detectors, dogs trained to sniff out

explosives and closed-circuit TV monitors, as well as more than 10,000

police. The government also is offering groups of pilgrims insurance

packages for the festival.

Some Hindu groups plan to use the Kumbh Mela to announce the

construction of a controversial Hindu temple on the site of a former

mosque in the nearby city of Ayodhya. The mosque was destroyed by

Hindu mobs eight years ago, leading to days of bloody rioting. A model

of the temple will be on display.

To safely accommodate affluent and foreign pilgrims, including Western

celebrities, one of India's largest travel agencies has set up a

private, ultra-luxurious, temporary city on the riverbanks, complete

with heated tents and private security guards, at $400-plus per

weekend for double occupancy. Hotel rooms in Allahabad, a city of

120,000, have been sold out for months.

"We had this idea of a camp for people who would backpack when they

were young, but who have now reached a certain comfort level," said

Bhaskar Bhattacharya, a TV producer who suggested the idea. "This is

not to question their faith in any way, it's just that they've gotten

used to a lifestyle."

Most pilgrims, however, will have to make do with makeshift tents and

sleeping on the ground -- and unseasonably low temperatures. Many

sadhu groups, known as clans, have organized separate campgrounds for

their members.

Bijay Anand, 70, a cloaked sadhu from Punjab who was waiting at the

New Delhi train station today, said he and his friends planned to stay

in Allahabad for a month, sleeping in their clan's tents and depending

on the charity of other pilgrims for their food.

"We will stay by the Ganges, singing and praying all day. We'll take a

dip early each morning," he said. "Yes, it will be cold, but if I die,

I will be in the Ganges and flow with it. We don't look for comforts

in our life, so we won't feel the cold anyway."

© 2001 The Washington Post