Feb 5-7th,
2013. Kumbh Mela Allahabad. The Maha Maha Kumbh!
Don’t know where it arose from – but all of a sudden I had
an urge to visit what is known as the ‘world’s biggest spiritual gathering’,
the Maha Kumbh that occurs once in every 12 years. I threw out the idea amongst
my cousins and one of them said, “Hey, my mom-in-law is going in 2 weeks. She
has family that lives in Allahabad and you could easily just stay with them.” I
was set.
Shaped by popular media and old Bollywood films, my
impression of the Kumbh was that of a chaotic, over-populated and
under-regulated stampede. Therefore the idea of staying with a local family
appealed to me.
I booked my flight to Lucknow, met the family at the airport
and we embarked on a 5 hour journey to Allahabad by road. This was my first
visit to UP, India’s most populous state. I marveled at the Lucknow airport,
which was far superior to most airports in comparable cities in India (Jaipur,
Calcutta etc.). There is a ‘new highway’ connecting both cities, which is still
only half-built; the entire journey was a 1-lane freeway obstacle with trucks
and bullock carts. We left Lucknow at 1:15 pm and after 2 short pit stops,
finally reached our host’s home at 7:15 pm.
Exhausted but excited, we rejuvenated our bodies with a
quick cup of tea and decided to explore the mela by night. We drove across the newly constructed Yamuna Bridge
to catch our first glimpse of the mela. I was amazed at the scale and magnitude
of the mela – rows and rows of tents of various shapes and sizes covered the
grounds.
Our first stop were the naga babas, who seemed tourist
hungry and eager for publicity. Mostly naked, they sat in front of a fire and
used the ashes of the fire to smear a blessing on our foreheads and spoke to us
till a TV crew from Poland intervened asking for an interview. We were quickly
forgotten.
Next stop was at the ‘khada babas’ or standing saints. The
saint claimed to have been standing for over 10 years and mentioned that he had
another three to go before his ‘tapasya’ or ‘promise to God’ ended. When we
asked him why he would undertake such a pursuit he calmly said, “Daughter, had
I not done this, would I have been able to meet you? You have come seeking me
and that is how I have seen see. Similarly, I believe I will be able to
encounter God as well if I continue so.” I was quite moved by his words and for
a brief moment admired this man until we saw another saint in a similar posture
and inquired about him. “Oh! That man has only been standing for 3 years,” the
saint said mockingly. In that instance the ‘khada baba’ came quickly tumbling
down in my eyes.
Next stop was the brahmakumaris akhada, a tent full of women
saints who preach peace through meditation. They put up a short 15 minute skit
depicting the key female Hindu Gods. The women were dressed like Saraswati,
Laxmi, Durga, Kali etc. and remained in perfect stillness for the entire
duration, a skill mastered through the regular meditation and discipline.
We also visited Swami Updeshanandji’s camp, a large
structure with very modern amenities. The saint is very young (mid 40’s) and
supposedly his teachings appeal to the youth and are not mired in traditions. There
was a classical music concert on at his camp. We enjoyed this for about 20
minutes, entered the camp to see the saint, who sat in the front row of a tent
that could easily accommodate over 10,000 viewers.
Famished, we returned home, ate dinner and retired for the
night, in anticipation of our 10 am trip to the Sangam (confluence of 3 sacred
rivers - Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati rivers).
Our boat left the Saraswati Ghat at 10:15 am with a group of
8, the boat man and a pandit (priest) in tow. The priest was to perform a
special ceremony for our group after the dip. The boat ride to the Sangam took
about 20 minutes and the search for space to dock our boat another 10. The
entire area was patrolled by the army and seemed very well regulated and
controlled. What might appear as mayhem was in fact organized chaos. Thousands
of people finding their way to the Sangam but devoid of any violence, mishaps
or accidents – it was spellbinding.
We spent about 20 minutes bathing in the Ganges and then
returned to our boat (which had been ingeniously fitted with a curtain so that
all the women could quickly change out of their wet clothes). The priest on our
boat then began our small ceremony which entailed the offering of ghee, fruits,
sugar, curd, milk etc. to the Ganges (essentially, just pouring these into the
water). I cringed as my companions fervently performed the ceremony and
secretly hid my portion of the sacrifices and asked the priest to take them
home instead of throwing them into the Ganga.
Upon returning, we made our way to the Late Hanuman temple
(laying down God), a crowded temple where people shoved and pushed to catch of
the deity who in his sleeping posture calmly watched the crowds from his bed.
We drove around the mela for sometime and then returned home
for lunch. After a quick meal, we decided to visit Anand Ashram (Nehru’s home).
It was a beautiful home with well-manicured lawns and rose gardens – a pleasant
walk into history marking Indira’s bedroom, her wedding spot, Gandhi’s favorite
area in the house and Nehru’s book collection and work place.
Next we went to the ‘India Coffee House’ and old coffee shop
existing since the 1950’s , for a strong brew of ‘special coffee’, admired
their high ceiling and air of intellectualism and then drove around the High
Court before returning home.
Our final stop for the afternoon was Chidanandji’s ashram,
to pay him a visit and enjoy the Ganga Aarti outside his ashram. We reached
there at about 4:30 and found the swami surrounded by about 100 devotees,
mostly Westerners. He spoke of how the
Kumbh signifies Oneness – a gathering (without invitations!) of people across
creeds and classes, all gathered as One. He derided the excessive visits to
temples and religious sites saying people should find God in one another and
not in temples. Overall, his preaching resonated with me but I was unable to get
a 1-1 audience with him.
Next, we walked out of the ashram to the banks of the
Yamuna/Ganga to enjoy the evening Aarati (a special ceremony to honor the
Ganga). We sat on the steps admist over 400-500 people as the sun set and
people sang and chanted in unison for almost 2 hours.
Most members of our group wanted to retire by this point so
decided to head home, while I with the host family went on to explore the mela
for some more time. We visited the Iskon (Krishna devotees) camp and finally
the Tirupati Balaji (famous God from the South of India) installation to return
home at 9 pm and retire for the evening.
On my final morning in Allahabad, I was hoping catch the
sunrise from the Yamuna but due to heavy rainfall it was cloudy. We still
decided to drive to the bridge and walked the length of the bridge admiring the
view of the Sangam from atop. We returned home for a hearty breakfast and
shower, relaxed for some time and then left for the Planetarium to see a show
on the alignment of the stars during the Kumbh – a short 22-minute film, I
mostly slept through.
I could easily have spent more time exploring the Kumbh,
given the number of various religious and spiritual leaders who were present.
Shri Shri Ravishanker was to visit from Feb 13-15th, the Dalai Lama
had just cancelled his visit, Baba Ramdev had a camp as did Morari Bapu. A
series of concerts were lined up as well including Hariprasad Charausia and
Vishwamohan Bhatt etc.
Coated with some degree of greed that permeates across the
classes, the spirit of the mela was tangible. My 2-night visit left me
marveling at the pull that faith/belief has in India. I feel that we are a rudderless nation,
seeking a leader who can make some sense of the chaos and confusion we confront
daily given the over-populated and multi-cultural society we live in. The Kumbh
mela is just one manifestation of India’s desire for peace and cohesion.
Wrote this haphazard piece for my blog on Feb 7th,
2013 on the flight from Lucknow to Bangalore. Please excuse the ranting.
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