kumbha mela part i

7/29/2019 Kumbha Mela Part I

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218T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i J U N E 2 0 1 0~ ~

Worlds Largest Act of FaithGlimpses of Mahakumbh Mela in Haridwar-2010

ATMASHRADDHA

The author is monk of the Ramakrishna Order.

On the Banks of the Ganges

Says the BBC documentary on Ganga,

No where else on earth are the natural and

spiritual worlds so intertwined as in India. This

is the place where fire and air, animals and trees,

mountains and rivers are revered as Gods. Oneof the most powerful of these natural deities is

the river Ganges. She is a water Goddess, who

blesses the many faces of northern India, in a

thousand different ways. For millennia she has

brought shape and life to a parched land, and

provided sustenance for body and soul, to the

countless millions who have lived and wor-

shipped along her banks. All around her, the

great cycles of birth, death and rebirth are

endlessly played out. And flowing through these

natural and spiritual worlds is the Ganges,

Indias river of life.1

No where, again, in the recent past, could

this interplay of the human and divine facets

of Ganges be seen and felt more palpably andmagnificently than in the just concluded Maha-

kumbh Mela held once in twelve years in

Haridwar. Ganges, the river Goddess, was

adored in a thousand wonderful ways for

more than three monthsfrom 14thJanuary

(Makar Sankranti) to 28th April (Chaitra Purni-

ma, also called Vaishakh Adhimas Purnima)

2010. Millions of peopledevotees, sadhus,

Pilgrims taking a holy dip in Brahma-kund


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sannyasins, common pilgrims, visitorstravel-

led to Haridwar these three and half months,

bathed in Ganga Mai, as She is lovingly

called, prayed standing in or near Her waters,

offering flowers and lamps on it, leavingbehind a holy trail of devotion, consecration

and faith. And this has been going on for

centuriesnay, since time immemorial.

To someone who has never taken part in

the Kumbh Mela, a series of questions rise up

in his mind, struggling for a response. Some

of these questions could be: What is a Maha-

kumbh Mela? Why is it held? When, where

and how long is it held? What happens there?

And what do people do there?

Though one can put together all the facts,

it is not easy to communicate the Kumbh-

experience. While one might attempt some

descriptive, somewhat plausible and logical

answers, one gets the real answer only by

experiencing the Mahakumbh Mela in person.

Experience has no substitute. Only through a

direct, personal experience can one get aglimpse of the sanctity and magnificence of

the Kumbh Mela.

Understanding Kumbh Mela

In his foreword to the bookKumbh Mela

and the SadhusThe Quest for Immortality ,

Christopher N Burchett writes:

Kumbh is the oldest religious gathering known

to man. Even looking into the deepest depths of

ancient history, it is almost impossible to pin adate on the exact origin of this huge gathering

of religious heads. Not only was this gathering

attended by holy men of all castes and creeds

Pilgrims walking on make-shift and permanent bridges near Hari-ki-pauri during Kumbh Mela-2010


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but by kings and nobility not to speak of the

public at large too who made it a focus of

pilgrimage.

Another fact that we have to realize is that this

gathering was essentially a gathering of religious

personages who came together to discuss points

of theology and philosophy with each other. It

may be said that it was treated as a parliament

or forum of religion where differences of belief

and practice could be rationalized. There are

many references to this gathering not only in

historical records but also in the Mythology of

the Hindu world, the most consistent being the

references to the churning of the ocean in search

of the nectar hidden within. The subsequent

chase and conflict between the Gods and theDemons for possession of the nectar and for the

places where the pot or Kumbh containing the

nectar of immortality was spilt indicate the

locations of the Kumbh gatherings.2

Kumbh Mela is not a temple festival, nor

do the pilgrims come to Kumbh for darshan

of a particular deity (as is the case with most

pilgrimage centres). Kumbh celebrates a hoary

belief in the sanctity of Ganges and a bath in

her sacred waters. Millions come to take bath

in the sacred river Ganges.

In Kumbh, it is said, one does snan (bath),

dhyan (meditation), japa (repetition of Gods

name), upavasa (fasting), seva (service), puja

(worship), bhajan (singing of bhajans), kirtan

(group singing), pravachan-shravan (listening to

religious discourses), and sadhu darshan (meet-

ing holy men). The whole of Kumbh area

reverberates with spiritual and religious

fervour. And rightly has it been called the

largest religious gathering on earth. It is a

veritable sea of human beings.

The Legend

There are many stories in the Hindu

scriptures about Kumbh of which the follow-

ing is the most popular and accepted. Called

the Samudra Manthan episode (churning of

the ocean of milk), it is mentioned in the

Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, the Maha-

bharata, and the Ramayana with some minor

variations in details.Once both the sons of sage Kashyapa,

devas or devtas or suras (gods) and asuras or

daityas (demons), in order to regain their lost

strength, decided to churn (manthana) the great

ocean called Ocean of Milk (kshir sagara).

Though arch enemies, they decided to bury

their differences temporarily and jointly ex-

plore all the secrets that lie hidden in the divine

ocean ofkshir sagara.

UsingMandarachal Parvata (the great

mountain called Mandarachal) as a churning

rod, they requested the mighty snake Vasuki

to be the rope, with asuras on the head-side

and devas on the tail-side. Lord Vishnu tookthe form a tortoise (kachchhapa avatar) and held

the load of Mandrachal Parvata on his strong

back. This mega-churning by two mighty

forces went on for years. In the process, it gave

rise to several precious objects such as the

celestial cow (kamadhenu), Goddess Lakshmi,

A traditional painting of Samudra Manthana


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kalpa vriksha (the wish-fulfilling tree), and so

on. The churning also brought to surface the

deadly poison called the halahala, or kala-koota

visha. At the request of devas and asuras, Lord

Shiva drank the poison and held it to histhroat. This turned Shivas throat blue and he

thus came to be known as Neelakantha, the

Blue Throated One.

Finally, after churning the ocean for very

many years, emerged the God of Health,

Dhanwantari, holding the Kumbh (pitcher)

containing the amrita, immortality elixir. Soon,

a furious fight broke out between devas and

asuras to possess the Kumbh containing the

amrita. At the behest of his father, Indra, the

king of the gods, his son, Jayanta, wrested the

pitcher. In order to keep it safely, he ran

around the whole world, chased by demons

for twelve days during which he rested at

twelve spots.

As Jayanta ran, a few drops of amrita

spilled out from the Kumbh at those four

places in the earth and at eight other places in

heaven and nether world. The four places

where he stopped on this earth are: Haridwar,

Nasik, Ujjain and Prayagalong the sacredrivers Ganga, Shipra, Godavari and at the

confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and

Saraswati respectively.

Another version of the legend has it that

the devas and asuras fought for the ownership

of the amrit-kumbh when Lord Vishnu flew

away with the Kumbh of amrita spilling drops

of amrita at the four places mentioned above.

The period of twelve days for the gods

equals twelve years in human time; hence theKumbh Parva happens in successive twelve

years. The places where the nectar spilt became

centres of pilgrimage where the Kumbh Parva

is observed. Traditional belief about the

spiritual and religious significance of Kumbh

at Haridwar is:

Hw$^`moJo h[amao V ZmZoZ `\$b_&

Zmd_oYghgoU V\$b b^Vo w{d&&

By a ceremonial bath in holy Ganga at Haridwar

during Kumbha one accrues merit greater than

that of performing a thousand horse sacrifices.

Kumbh Parva

Kumbha, in Sanskrit, means a pitcher

(especially a roundish pot with no handle),

sometimes referred to as the kalasha. It is also

a zodiac sign in Indian astrology for Aquarius,

the sign under which the festival is celebrated,

while Mela means a gathering or a meet, or

simply a fair. Originally it was called only as

a parva or festival.

The Purna (complete) Kumbh takes place

at four places (Prayag/Allahabad, Haridwar,

Ujjain, and Nashik) every twelve years, while

the Ardh Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six

years at Haridwar and Prayag.

The Maha-Kumbh Mela (Great Kumbh

Mela) comes after 12 Purna Kumbh Melas

which is after every 144 years. It is celebrated

at different locations depending on the position

of the planet Brihaspati (Jupiter) and the Sun.When Jupiter and the Sun are in the zodiac

sign Leo (simha rashi), it is held in Nashik;

when the Sun is in Aries (mesha rashi), it is

celebrated at Haridwar; when Jupiter is in

Taurus (vrishabha rashi) and the Sun is in

Capricorn (makara rashi), Kumbh Mela is

celebrated at Prayag; and when Jupiter and

the Sun are in Scorpio (vrishchika rashi), the

Mela is celebrated at Ujjain. Each sites Kumbh

dates are calculated in advance according to aspecial alignment of zodiacal positions of Sun,

Moon, and Jupiter.

Historicity

The Kumbh is very, very ancient. The

word Kumbh itself finds references in the


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Vedas. Etymologically, Kumbh means that

which bestows auspiciousness on earth, and

much contentment (Hw$ ndr_, C`{V nya`{V _Jbg_mZm{XX{^[a{V Hw$^).

A verse in the Rig Veda, with an obviousreference to Kumbh Parva, says:

OKmZ d d{Y{VdZod amoO nwam o AaX {gYyZ &

{~^oX {J[a Zd{_fi Hw$^ _m Jm Bmo H$Uw d wp^&&

Just as a sharp edged axe cuts a log of wood,

similarly merit accrued through the observance

of Kumbha washes off demerits accumulated

through eons.3

The first recorded evidence of the Kumbh

Mela can be found in the accounts of Chinese

traveller, Huan Tsang or Xuanzang (602-664A.D.) who visited India in 629-645 CE, during

the reign of King Harshavardhana. He is

recorded to have said,

I have seen the huge crowd of people having a

holy dip at Haridwar in order to wash off their

sins.

Another reference is to be found in The

Imperial Gazetteer of India, which speaks of an

outbreak of cholera in 1892 Mela at Haridwar

leading to the rapid improvement of arrange-

ments by the authorities and to the formationof Haridwar Improvement Society. In 1903

about 4,00,000 people were recorded as

attending the fair. Ten million people gathered

at Haridwar for the Kumbh on April 14, 1998.

Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime

Minister of free India, in his book the Discovery

of India states, . . .even at that [ancient] time,

those Melas were considered to be much older

and it can not be said when they began. . .

HaridwarA Centre of Pilgrimage

An abode of Ashramas, Maths, Akhadas,

temples and seats of Vedanta learning (peethas),

Haridwar is located on the banks of Ganga. A

hallowed and ancient centre of pilgrimage,

Haridwar was originally called Mayapuri

A bathing ghat on the Ganga Canalacross Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Kankhal

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the abode of the Goddess Mayadevi. The

temple of Mayadevi, one of the shaktipithas, is

located in the heart of the Haridwar town. The

Juna Akhada is built around the temple now.

Haridwar is considered one of the seven citiesgiving moksha (mokshapuris). Originally

known as Gangadwar (Gateway to Ganga

to indicate that Ganga descends from moun-

tains here), it is also called Haridwar (Gate-

way to the temple of HariBadrinath

located in the Himalayas) and Haradwar

(Gateway to the temple of Hara or Shiva

Kedarnathin the Himalayas).

Hari-ki-pauri (the steps of the Lord

Hari) or Brahma-kunda is the most sacred

place for taking a holy dip in the Ganga. It is

believed that the first concrete ghat at Hari-ki-

pauri was constructed by the king Vikra-

maditya. There are a number of temples

dedicated to Mother Ganga, Lord Vishnu and

other gods and goddesses in the Hari-ki-pauri

area. Important temples in Haridwar include

hill temples of Manasa Devi and Chandi Devi,

Bilvakeshwar Shiva temple, Sapta Rishi Ash-

rama, besides hundreds of other Ashramas,

Maths, and places of worship.Ganga enters the plains at Haridwar,

flowing silent but with great speed, with ice-

chill waters melting from the Himalayan

glaciers. It divides into several big and

small streams at Haridwar. The main

stream goes along the Hari-ki-pauri, and

after travelling some four kilometres, it joins

another stream of Ganga and flows into the

400 km long Ganga Canal towards Kanpur

where it rejoins the mainstream. This morethan century and a half old canal, cons-

tructed during the British reign, is the

lifeline of hundreds of villages and towns

in the northern belt.

On the western side of the Ganga

canal is located Kankhal. Haridwar and

Kankhal are twin centres of pilgrimage held

in great sanctity. Kankhal (literately where

even a wicked person becomes noble) is

believed to be the place where the Daksha

Prajapati held a mighty Yajna in ancient times.As Shiva, Dakshas son-in-law, was not

extended an invitation, Divine Mother as Sati

sacrificed herself in the burning fire of the

Yajna. Later Shiva salvaged her body from the

fire and scattered it all over the land. The fifty

one places where parts of Divine Mothers

body fell are located in various parts of India

(some are now in Pakistan and Bangladesh)

and are called shakti-pithas (seats of Divine

Power) and are held in great reverence. The

Daksha Prajapati Mandir, the place where

Daksha is believed to have conducted the

Yajna, is located on the banks of one of the

streams of Ganga in Kankhal.

In Kankhal is also located Ramakrishna

Mission Sevasharma. Started in 1901, it is situa-

ted on the Delhi-Haridwar National Highway,

along the Ganga Canal. The Sevashrama

maintains a modern hospital with 150 beds.

All monks, irrespective of the sampradayas are

sects they belong to, are given free medicaltreatment here and the treatment to the general

patients is provided at nominal charges. A

The shrine of Mayadevi Mandir, Haridwar

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beautiful temple of Sri Ramakrishna is located

at the centre of the Ashrama. A bathing ghat

named Vivekananda Ghat on the Ganga Canal

makes the presence of Swamiji palpably felt.

There are numerous bathing ghats,temples and ashramas along the banks of

Ganga. On various ghats one sees thousands

of devotees taking a holy dip in the Ganga all

through. As the evening descends, hundreds

of devotees, standing on Ganga banks, wave

the arati, with the sound of cymbals and bells

accompanying them. The main arati, of course,

takes place on the Hari-ki-pauri, while nume-

rous other aratis are performed along the

Ganga banks. Devotees join the aratis bysinging bhajans, or leave on the sweet Ganga

waters small earthen lamps, lit with ghee/oil,

and flowers strewn around it, placed on large

leaves. Wobbling up and down on the sacred

waters of Ganga, these floating-aratis travel

some distance and then get merged in the

wavy holy waters that they adore. Along with

the dimming sounds of bells and cymbals, the

fragrance of the agarbatis too slowly wafts

along the river banks, leaving behind the

lingering memory of a divine experience.

There are numerous shops selling reli-

gious books, sweets, CDs, precious stones from

Himalayan regions, and all else which a

pilgrim may like to have. Beggars and un-

scrupulous elements too carry on their brisk

business. A whole economy runs on pilgri-

mage!

A Note on Hindu Monastic Institutions

In order to fully appreciate the KumbhParva, one should understand the various

monastic institutions which play a vital role

in Kumbh.

The institution of sannyasa is as old as

civilization. One finds references to it in the

Upanishads and in the Puranas. The Vedic

sannyasa tradition, however, is believed to

have been organized into Dashanami Sampra-

daya (literally tradition of ten names) by Adi

Shankara in the 8th century AD. These tennames are the names which are added to the

sannyasa name of the sannyasins, indicating a

particular sampradaya, with specifications

regarding the mahavakya, Upanishad, devata

and so on. These names are Saraswati, Tirtha,

Aranya, Bharati, Ashrama, Giri, Parvata,

Ganga arati at Hari-ki-pauri

A floating aratiall set for its sacred journey

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Sagara,Vana and Puri. These ten sects or names

come under the Maths started by Shankara-

charya. While the dashanami monks follow

their spiritual practices and traditions laid

down by Sri Adi Shankara, there are someother traditions which are partly or fully

independent in their beliefs and practices.

One of the major sampradayas is that of

Naga sadhus or the naked monks. In all

Kumbh Melas Naga Sadhus occupy a place of

privilegeand curious attraction. The Naga

(possibly a degeneration of the term nagna or

nanga, naked) monks as such are quite old.

Alexander the Great (353-323 B.C.) refers to

have met somegymnosophists (naked philoso-

phers) during his exploits in India. The last

Tirthankara of Jainism, Mahavir, also belonged

to this type. Epics contain names of Rishabha-

deva, Shukadeva and Avadhutas under this

group. This nakedness is a symbol of extreme

renunciation and is not looked down upon as

obscene, but as an act of utter non-concern

about this transient world. Even a piece of

cloth is considered as a nuisance.

As to the origin of Naga sadhus, the

name of Madhusudana Sarasvati, a great

scholar-saint of 15th century India, is invariably

associated. The following would throw some

light on the subject:

Madhusudana stayed for several decades at

Gopala Matha on the Chatuhshasthi Ghat

(popularly known as the Chaushasthi Yogini

Ghat) in Benares. A historically important event

at Benares in those days has been recorded by

Prof. J.N. Farquhar: One of the notorious

practices of the Muslim priests, as good

Muslims, was to frequently attack and kill the

Hindus, lay and monastic, especially at pilgrim

centres such as Benares. Those priests were

protected by a faulty law that exempted them

from any legal punishment! So the hapless

Hindus approached Madhusudana to do some-

thing to stop this injustice. Since he was well

known at the durbar of Emperor Akbar (who

ruled between AD 1556-1605), he met the

Emperor through Raja Birbal and narrated to

him the religious atrocities at Benares, etc. As a

solution, the Emperor suggested that Madhu-

sudana should organize a militant band of

sannyasins to defend Hinduism and its followers.

At the same time he promulgated a law that

thenceforth the Hindu sannyasins too, like the

Muslim priests, were outside the purview of

legal action. Thus was born at the hands of

Madhusudana the much respected, and feared,

Naga sect of Vedantic sannyasins. The recruits

into it were mostly from the Kshatriya caste.

They lived in monasteries called akhadas (literallygymnasiums) and were trained in the martial

arts.4

About the Nagas attire, or rather lack of

it, some people explain it, as an imitation of

the Lord Shiva who is believed to barely cover

his body. Their state of nakedness is symbolic

of transparency and purity of mind, freed from

A naga sadhu (Juna Akhara)

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all lower and baser instincts such as lust, greed,

jealousy, and so on. It is symbolic of the state

of mind of a five-year old child.

According to one source, among sannya-

sins there are two types: shastradhari andshaastradhari. The former (shastradhari, armed

with shastra or weapons) learnt and mastered,

besides wrestling, the use of swords, sticks

and other simple forms of arms for the protec-

tion of Hindus and live in akhada. Each

akhada has its own deity, lineage of preceptors,

branch of the Veda they adhere to, and so on.

During the medieval times, the shastra-

dhari naga sadhus fought for the protection

of Hindus from the attack of religious fanatics

and forceful conversions. These akhadas have

fought many times for the protection of sacred

places and temples of Hindus. For instance, in

1666, they fought for the protection of

Haridwar; in 1745, against Ahmad Shah

Abdali for the protection of Prayag (Allaha-

bad); in 1757 for Gokul near Mathura. And

Kumbh became an occasion for extending

invitation to unite for the cause of their

religion. Presently the Naga Sadhus, however,

remain in the ambit of non-violence, thoughsome of them practice the sport of wrestling.

Normally eight dashanami akhada are

listed: Ahvan, Agni, Anand, Atal, Gudad, Juna,

Niranjani and Nirvani; Juna, Niranjani,

Nirvani are principal akhadas.

The other groupshaastradhari (the one

holding on to the shaastra or scripture) kept

up the tradition of scriptural studies. They

conducted scriptural classes and discourses for

the benefit of their followers and generalpublic by moving from place to place. This

group was called mandali. The head of a

mandali is called a Mandalishwar or Mandal-

eshwar.5 A Mahamandaleshwar means a great

spiritual leader.

Another monastic tradition which should

be mentioned is the Udasi tradition. Started

by Sri Chand (1494-1643), son of Guru Nanak

Dev, the founder and the first Guru of Sikhism,

the Udasis follow both the Hindu and the Sikh

scriptures. The term Udasi comes from the

word udas meaning detachment or renun-

ciation. Unlike the Khalsa Sikhs, Udasis do

not prohibit shaving or cutting ones hair.

Udasi heads of akhadas maintain accurate

records of the chain of succession from Sri

Chand.

There are also Nirmal akhadas, another

branch of the Sikh monastic tradition.

Finally, the Bairagis or the Vaishnavas

who too have their own akhadas and they callit Vaishnava Ani. They worship Rama. They

have four main divisions: i) Ramavat (Rama-

nandi), ii) Nimavat (Nimbarka), iii) Madhava

Sampradaya, and iv) Vishnu Swami Sam-

pradaya. (To be continued. . .)

1. Ganges, Indias River of Life, a documentary on the

Ganges produced by Den Rees and serialised on

the BBC by Ian Gray2. Kumbh Mela and the SadhusThe Quest for

Immortality, Pilgrims Publishing, B-27/98 A-8,

Nawabganj Road, Durga Kund, Varanasi, 221010,

Uttar Pradesh. Website: www.pilgrimbooks.com

3. Rig Veda, 10.89,7

4. Introduction by Swami Atmaramananda to

Bhagavad Gita, with Madhusudana Sarasvatis

Gudhartha Dipika, tr. Swami Gambhirananda,

Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, p.16-17. Also seeA

History of Dashnami Naga Sanyasis, Sir JadunathSarkar (pub. Sri Panchayati Akhara, Mahanirvani,

Daraganj, Allahabad).

5. Amrita Ganga, Commemorative Souvenir,

Mahakumbha 2010, published by Ramakrishna

Math and Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama,

Kankhal, Hardwar. Cf. Kumbha Mahaparva, by

Swami Amareshananda, p.7-8

References

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kumbha mela part i

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