Mahakumbh

"It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear, I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites.” -Mark Twain 

Pass the Bade Hanuman Temple abutting the Sangam Banks , take a left from the Shanker Viman Mandapam and you will find yourself in the quaint vastness of world’s largest religious gathering which attracted an overwhelming crowd of 120 million people during its tenure of 2 months.  A whole city of colourful tents and huge balloons showing off the sponsors spread over 58 sq-km area with 25,000 street lamps and an electricity grid with 2,081 miles of cable was put up to house the pilgrims and devotees.

Down the slope of the road surfaced with metal sheets to avoid slipping, there was a magnificent congregation of sadhus and sants draped in saffron coloured sheets, marking the renunciation from the material world and ascetics and foreign tourists. 

The pointed tent tops covered the landscape and air carried intoxicating scent of revelry and festivity with a hint of sanctity. An array of religious akhadas on both sides of the streets completed the mural and made it more breathtaking. There were hospitals, police stations, post offices, banks and radio stations just to make the visit more convenient. Police personnel patrolled the area and choppers scanned from above for proper flow of crowd. Walking through the serpentine streets, among the sadhus and all the devotees, was an experience that cannot be expressed in words. The anachronism still made a lot of sense. The hustle that looked very chaotic from outside moved in a very orderly fashion. The sound of vedic mantras and jaikaras  from the camps and akhadas filled the environment with energy, giving a very lively and electrifying feel. The devotees owed a great deal of their convenience to the babas. Akhadas provided food to all the people present without any sense of discrimination or difference, feeding the hungry from time to time. The place saw a huge divergence in the visitors. Some visiting in cars and some carrying their ration on their heads as buying food from the shops is out of their reach. But despite of this the enthusiasm and ardour to take a dip in the waters at the confluence of India’s holiest rivers seemed indomitable. 

Bathing in the river Ganges is of great importance especially during this time. It is believed that it washes away all the sins and the cycle of rebirth and death ends as the soul becomes one with God Almighty.  February 10th, was the most important date of the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela. Predicted in advance, based on a precise configuration of stars and planets, this date held great importance as taking a dip on this day is believed to purify an individual’s existence. . With the commencement of shahi snan , an army of spear carrying, ash-smeared, dreadlocked naga babas emerged from their orders to take a dip. A posse moved along with the naga sadhus who hauled with much fanfare. By the end of the day an estimated 30 - 40 million people had gathered at the sangam to take a dip in the holy Ganges.

The world's biggest religious event concluded on 10th March on the occasion of mahashivratri, washing away the sins of 120 million people in the last 60 days.  According to authorities it would take at least 10 days to remove the tented city from the location. This mahakumbh ended providing moksha  to millions of people.