Get Spiritual at the Maha Kumbh Mela

“To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.” – Raphael Simon

The Land of Festivals

As Indians, all of us have experienced religion and faith in some form or the other. The fact is very obviously helped by the whole process of living in a country that has a religious festival for almost every day of the year.

Festivals play an important part in the lives of us Indians and we have people from all walks of life celebrating Holi, Diwali and more with the same fervor and happiness as they would celebrate the birth of a child or a marriage in the family. But when it comes to scale and size, nothing even comes close to being as humongous or as grand a festival as the Maha Kumbh Mela.

The Big Daddy of all Melas

Majorly a Hindu festival, the Purna Kumbh Mela is celebrated once every 12 years and after every 12 such melas, the Maha Kumbh Mela (celebrated once every 144 Years) is held. Legend has it that the devas (demigods) who had been cursed by a very powerful saint of the old, churned the Ocean of Milk with the help of the asuras (demons) to obtain amrit, the nectar that would make them immortal and all powerful again. As a result of their combined efforts, the amrit (nectar) appeared in a kumbh (urn). But a battle for its ownership ensued between the devas and asuras, which was ultimately won by the former.

This war lasted 12 nights and 12 days (12 years in human terms), during which four drops of amrit fell on the earth at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.

Photo Credit: Vivek Chauhan

Once in a Lifetime Opportunity

Apart from happening only once in our lifetime, the Maha Kumbh Mela is also celebrated for being one of the biggest religious gatherings in the world. This year it will be held between January 14^th and March 10^th, with the important days being 10^th to  18^thFebruary.

An estimated 130 million people will be attending the festival this year. For a traveler this can be, on one hand, a very intense experience and on the other, quite mellow because it is extremely humbling to be a part of a congregation this size where everyone is at peace with their spiritual self.

The main ritual is the mass bath that takes place at the sangam (confluence) of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati (which is said to be in an invisible form) in the city of Allahabad. The belief is that the sins of the pilgrims are washed away as they take a dip in the holy waters. The chants of mantras resonating and the mesmerising aartis offer a brilliant, ethereal backdrop.

Allahabad Calling

There are various options one can avail to get to the main bathing site as Allahabad is well connected to all major cities by air, rail and road.

Hotels and tents (on the banks of the river) have to be booked in advance. So if you are planning to go, you need to decide right now because their availability becomes scarce as the main dates approach. If struggling for leave from work, you can choose to participate in the Maha Kumbh Mela for only two to three days though nothing beats staying there for the complete length of the festival which is known as Kalpavasa.

All in all, be ready to be awed by the power of faith that drives multitudes of people from various walks of life to collect at one place to pray and ask for deliverance.  A once in a lifetime gathering, the Maha Kumbh Mela will surely get you closer to your spiritual self.