The train trudged slowly testing our patience
The foggy morning occasionally allowed glimpses of yellow fields to peep through
it was slightly cold outside and the train stopped ,this was
one of the many stops it had made since morning
by dawn we should
have reached Allahabad ,we were only 50 km away but the train was meandering
After some wait another train thundered past us in the
opposite direction this was the fourth one to do so ,the authorities were
trying to clear Allahabad before allowing anyone in !
On Feb 10th the day before there had been a
stampede in the railway station killing more than 35 pilgrims in a crowded foot
over bridge and the authorities were wary of a repeat .
The stampede was a black mark caused by overzealous
policemen who used mild force to a
panicky crowd ,there was also confusion
after a sudden announcement of a train arriving in a different platform than
what was announced earlier
This single event darkened this years kumbhmela for
otherwise it was peaceful
Foreign universities descend on the Kumbh Mela to study its
organization for it was no feat to manage crowds numbering to crores for a
period of more than a month in an area equaling 3000 soccer grounds
To keep a place frequented by so many clean and
tidy and
to prevent epidemics
and stampedes and to provide the infrastructure for a crowd of this magnitude
was commendable
Feb 10th was Mauna Amavasi an auspicious bathing
day in the Kumbh mela one of the most important of the three auspicious days
when more than 3 crore people had their holy dips at the sangham the jucnction
where three rivers merges the Ganga Indias holiest and most revered river the Yamuna which descended from the high Himalayan ranges emptying
its icy gurgling waters through the lofty heights and verdant plains of India and
the mystical Saraswati river fleetingly seen near its origin beyond Badrinath
and later said to be underground merging with Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad
When we went to Badrinath earlier we had seen this
To India rivers have always been sacred
Its culture ,people, religion , ethos
and its soul itself were in these mystical natural bodies .
Hinduism believed in the continuity of souls and in impermanence
of the bodies
Life itself begins ends and starts again flowing unending like a river probably this reminder
could be the reason for rivers to be considered as holy
The Kumbh mela is a phenomenon unequalled
It is one of the largest gathering in the earth something
that could be viewed even from space
India revers its holy men too
there are so many sects of
holy men who are in a spiritual quest in India even to this day .
from the naked Aghoras fierce in their ash clad long haired and bearded appearance smoking
marijuana eating flesh and drinking wine
their nights spent in crematoriums in
the company of the burning dead to an
Aghora nothing was disgusting neither
filth nor slime they never flinched with pain they gleefuly endured torture to their bodies
,( there was one sadhu who had his hands raised for past 3 years his limb was
shriveled into a twig by disuse atrophy )
To them these were but but paths to attain salvation
Everything is God
Aghoras follow lord
Siva the supreme yogi .
Initiation into an Aghora is a tedious process one has to
get a Guru willing to take him as a disciple ,he has to use a kamandala or
vessel fashioned out of a human skull this would be one his rare posessions and
his receptacle for food and drink after months of penance in dark crematoriums
and forests an aghora gets intitated by his guru whispering the sacred manthra
into his ears an emotional moment when he would burst into tears of exhaustion
and joy
Aghoras are the fringe elements in the vast repertoire of
sanyasins there are naga sadhus who also have tantric rituals in their
programmes but unlike the Aghoras are suitable dressed
Saints of differnet denominations and their followers each
following their own ideals and rules are spread all over India mostly in the
lower reaches of the mighty Himalayas some worldly with their matireal posessions willingly donated by
their rich followers from across the world some indifferent living in solitudes
in the icy wastes and glaciers of the high mountains never bothering about the
world immersed in their penance and untouched by the vagaries of nature
Once when we went to Badrinath we saw high up in the hills a
red roof which was said to house a great saint who lived for years in isolation
in the stark cold till the Reliance group honcho had a fibre glass shelter built over him to his blissful
ignorance
The Kumbh mela draws saints like bees to a flower. It is a virtual spiritual supermarket with more than
5000 akharas or spiritual sects grouped into areas accorded to them on their
rankings in popularity and greatness bestowed on them
the parade of sadhus descending to the mighty Ganga for
their dip during the mela on auspicpus days was one of the most visual
spectacles of the kumbh and many a photographer has delighted in capturing those lively
colourful moments when the naked aghoras dance with their spears guarding their
territorial rights followed by serene saints caparisoned in elephants an camels
or on modern automobile with their fellow saints
IThe mela is a carnival which could beat its Brazilian counterpart with ease by its colour
clamour confusion and variety
Unfortunately I was unable to witness this spectacle of a
saintly march during my short visit to the kumbh
The kumbh itself has many legends behind it the popular one
tells about the Devas or gods and the Asuras the demons churning the ocean of
life with a mountain and a serpent vasuki used as rope on mount meru to attain
the mythical elixir of life called Amrutha when finally amritha is churned out
a fierce fight ensuses to take it and in the process some spills to the lowly
earth
the four sites of the kumbh mela Allahabad ,Ujjain ,Nasik
and Haridwar are the spots where it does so
Mela is held in these places by turn every three years hence
falls in one place every twelve years and is called mahakumbhmela the one that
falls once in 144 years is called purva mahakumbhmela
With Ganges Yamuna and saraswati in Allahabad Ganges in
Haridwar Godavari in nasik and in Ujjain
Historical studies claim that the kumbh itself is not that
old though a riverside mela was said to be there for ages
Chinese traveller Haung sen had mentioned of the big
festival on the river bank held once in 12 years
Finally we trundled into the Allahabad station at 3pm the
station was a mass of humanity but the crowds were much less than what we imagined
and we could clamber up the overbridge which showed no evidence of a recent
tragedy a typically Indian phenomenon of life carrying on regardless of events
We went out of the station
All roads it looked led to the mela which was more than 10
km away on the river banks there were no cabs and finally after some bargaining
we perched on a jumpy autorickshaw and sped our way
Once the mela area was reached we could connect to Pramodh
Swamiji of Amritha mission who had invited us here Swamiji asked us to reach a particular
bridge at which point he would pick us up in his Alto
The police stopped us long before the said bridge and we
walked more than a kilometre before we reached the bridge
On both sides there were tents housing pilgrims huge
compounded akharas blared their devotional songs with bhajans discourses and
darshans
People walked vendors shouted their wares streetsmall shops
sold things and food stalls were in plenty there were occasional food courts
too
Finally we saw Swamiji
to welcome us
we quickly reached Amritha compound and its few tents went
into one of the tents and a barricaded toilet to freshen ourselves after some
quick food we started off to our holy dip in the river which was more than 15km
of mela grounds away
Swamiji and his friend drove us in their alto twisting and
turning on metal laid paths full of people on bailey bridges floating on
plantoons built by the army
The police and army were in full force preventing any
untoward terrorist incidents and helping the pilgrims go their way
We had to leave our car and walk the last two kilometres
because vehicles were prohibited
By the time we reached the Ganga it was dusk
It was a sight to behold
The setting sun cast a purple hue to a cast filled with
thronging people distant lights blinked to the infinity voices mingled with
prayers and an unaffected river flew in quiet grace the air had an ethereal
spiritual quality which came out of the millions who had the same thoughts of
devotion and happiness in achieving something that they were destined for .
To a Hindu it a was a moment of joy to be part of this great
event
We too rejoiced in our moment
Swamiji went to the boat area and was trying to get a boat so we could go to the centre of the
river to the spot where the three rivers met called the sangham but the police
had strictly issued a stop to boat travel after dusk we were told to have our
dips on the banks we felt sad that we were late and we resigned to this .
suddenly from a sharp curve came a a boatman who had talked to us earlier and he
called us to quickly come to his boat we did not argue and the three of us were in it in a jiffy the police strangely
never objected and just waved us off .
We never knew why the boat man Gangaram did what he did but
with a name like that we felt it was Ganga mata herself who took us in
We were in the flowing sangham which had a convinient
sandbank for people to perch and take their ritual baths
The sparkling flowing water was cold but exhilarating and
enlivening
Our purpose to come for a holy dip in the maha kumbh mela
was fulfilled .
After returning to the banks we went to some akharas and met
some holy souls known to swamiji their conversations were deep in philosophy
and their glistening faces shone with their inherent knowledge and penance .
We left with great calmness and happiness
Night saw us speeding to lucknow to catch our flight back to
our world .
