KUMBH MELA
Allahabad
So what is Kumbh Mela? With apologies/thanks to Wikipedia:
Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. It is the world's largest religious gathering, with 80 million people expected in 2013, It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad, Nasik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year.
The rivers at these four places are: the Ganges (Ganga) at Haridwar, the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamunaand the mythical Saraswati at Allahabad, the Godawari at Nasik, and the Shipra at Ujjain.
Kumbh means a pitcher and Mela means fair in Hindi.
The pilgrimage is held for about one and a half months at each of these four places where it is believed in Hinduism that drops of nectar fell from the Kumbh carried by gods after the sea was churned. The festival is billed as the "world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims."
10 Feb 2013 was the biggest bathing day at the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela and probably the largest human gathering on a single day. Over 30 million devotees and ascetics took holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.
Our introduction to the Kumbh was at night, when the festival was suggestive of a carnival. The spiritual dimension was awaiting us the next day.
A tent community (one of many).
The picture above was taken by Mario Cader-Frech, who attended the festival with us. It is included here with his permission.
The most crowded moment we attended ...
The photo above was taken by Michael Trim, who also attended the festival with us. Included here with his permission.
Sadhus.
Wikipedia: Sadhus are renunciates, who have left behind all material attachments and live in caves, forests and temples all over India and Nepal. There are 4 to 5 million sadhus in India today and they are widely respected for their holiness, and sometimes feared for their curses.
Sadhus queued up to bathe in the Ganges on one of the auspicious bathing days.
The photo above was taken by Michael Trim, who also attended the festival with us. Included here with his permission.
Sadhu offering a blessing to one of our fellow travelers.
At the center is Shantum Seth, our guide and tour leader.
One of the bridges constructed for the event, built on top of pontoons.
A note about the swastika. This is an ancient symbol in India, not a Nazi emblem. It symbolizes goodness or holiness, and is widely used in Indian religions.
