As per the data made public by Maha Kumbh organisers, over 65 crore people took sacred bath in the holy confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati river. That is more thanclose to the entire population of United Kingdom or South Africa, and almost double the population of Canada. To put it in perspective, the number is close to half of India’s population. The Kumbha Mela is not just the union of devotees and pilgrims, it is also the union of cultures and traditions.
The story behind Kumbh
Samudra Manthana Sculpture, Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakkal, Karnataka
The story associated with Kumbh is attested to the story of Samudra Manthana. When the Amrit Kalash (The pot containing immortality potion) arrived out of the Samudra Manthana, the Devas and Asuras started to fight over the Amrit. Devas wanted that Asuras should not get the potion. When things started to get out of hand, Vishnu took a female form, as Mohini. Mohini started dance and enchant Asuras, thereby distracting the Asuras. She offered Amrit to the Devas, and plain water to the Asuras. One Asura named Rahu realised this trick, and he changed his appearance to look like a Deva and sat with the Devas. Surya recognised him, and informed Vishnu. Vishnu slit Rahu’s throat using Sudarshan Chakra, and created two Asuras names Rahu (head without body) and Ketu (body without head). While all this fight was going on, 4 drops of Amrit fell on earth. One each at Haridwar, Ujjain, Prayagraj and Tryambak. It is said that the Amrit drops get activated at particular alignment of celestial bodies. Kumbha Mela is organised in cycles, at all these 4 places; to celebrate the event and take benefit of the Amrit.
Significance and History
The four places, where the Kumbh Mela takes place, are all situated on the banks of rivers. Ujjain is situated on the banks of Shipra river, Haridwar is situated at place where Ganga hits the mainland, Tryambak at the source of river Godavari and Prayagraj is at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna (and Saraswati river too, as per puranic references). The festival is marked by a ritual dip in these waters. The seekers believe that bathing in these rivers is a means to prayashcitta (atonement, penance, restorative action) for past mistakes, and that this bath cleanses them of their sins. This emphasizes the importance of water bodies (especially rivers) in our civilisation.
In many parts of India, similar but smaller community pilgrimage and bathing festivals are called the Magha Mela, Makar Mela or equivalent. For example, in Tamil Nadu, the Magha Mela with water-dip ritual is a festival of antiquity. This festival is held at the Mahamaham tank (near Kaveri river) every 12 years at Kumbakonam, attracts millions of South Indian Hindus and has been described as the Tamil Kumbh Mela.
The weeks over which the festival is observed cycle at each site approximately once every 12 years based on the Hindu luni-solar calendar and the relative astrological positions of Jupiter, the sun and the moon. The Kumbh Melas have three dates around which the significant majority of pilgrims participate, while the festival itself lasts between one and three months around these dates. Each festival attracts millions, with the largest gathering at the Prayag Kumbh Mela.
There is difference of opinion about the beginning of Kumbh Mela. Devotees believe that the Kumbh Mela is happening since the time immortal. Some people attribute beginning of Kumbh Mela with 8th century philosopher saint Adi Shankaracharya. But historians attribute the organisation to British Kingdom, in the year 1870.
The mention of Prayag and bathing ritual at Prayag appears in Rigveda Parishishtha (supplement to the Rigveda). It is also mentioned in the Pali canons of Buddhism, Majjhima Nikaya. The Mahabharata mentions a bathing pilgrimage at Prayag as a means of praayashcitta (atonement, penance) for past mistakes and guilt. In Tirthayatra Parva, before the great war, the epic states “the one who observes firm [ethical] vows, having bathed at Prayaga during Magha, O best of the Bharatas, becomes spotless and reaches heaven.” In Anushasana Parva, after the war, the epic elaborates this bathing pilgrimage as “geographical tirtha” that must be combined with Manasa-tirtha (tirtha of the heart) whereby one lives by values such as truth, charity, self-control, patience and others.
The 7th-century Buddhist Chinese traveller Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) mentions king Harsha and his capital of Prayag, which he states to be a sacred Hindu city with hundreds of “deva temples” and two Buddhist institutions. He also mentions the Hindu bathing rituals at the junction of the rivers. According to some scholars, this is the earliest surviving historical account of the Kumbh Mela, which took place in present-day Prayag in 644 CE.
Based on these mentions and references, we can say that the Melas were always happening at Prayagraj, and they started to be called as Kumbh Melas at a later time. Eventually, similar Melas alsos tarted to be organised at Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik; thereby creating 4 Kumbh Melas.
Management
One of the key features of Kumbh Melas has been the camps and processions of Sadhus (Hindu monks). The Sadhus associate themselves with one of the thirteen Akharas (groups of warrior monks). Out of these 13, 10 Akharas are related to Hinduism and 3 are related to Sikhism. Before the East India Company Rule, the Akharas would organise the Kumbh Mela. They provided logistical arrangements, and policing, intervened and judged any disputes and collected taxes. The Kumbh Melas have been one of their recruitment and initiation venues, as well as the place to trade. Seeing the lucrative tax and trade revenues, East India Company took over the organisation of Kumbh Melas in the year 1870; and continued to organise till India’s Independence. They intervened, laid out the camps, trading spaces, and established a bathing order for each akhara. After 1947, the state governments have taken over this role and provide the infrastructure for the Kumbh Mela in their respective states. The British try to justify taking over the Kumbh Mela, citing the violent clashes that broke out between different Akharas.
During the 17th century, the akharas competed for ritual primacy, priority rights to who bathes first or at the most auspicious time, and prominence leading to violent conflicts. The records from the East India Company rule era report of violence between the akharas and numerous deaths. At the 1760 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, a clash broke out between Shaivite Gosains and Vaishnavite Bairagis (ascetics), resulting in hundreds of deaths. A copper plate inscription of the Maratha Peshwa claims that 12,000 ascetics died in a clash between Shaivite sanyasis and Vaishnavite bairagis at the 1789 Nashik Kumbh Mela. The dispute started over the bathing order, which then indicated the status of the akharas. At the 1796 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, violence broke out between the Shaivites and the Udasis on logistics and camping rights.
Even though different Akharas take part in the Kumbh, many monks, who arrive at Kumbh, are not part of any Akhara. Also, many household people take part in the Kumbh. And everyone is welcome to visit Kumbh.
Significance
Every Kumbh Mela has been a religiously prominent event in Hinduism, and has attracted large attendance. Because of this, the event has been very important for financial reasons too. Officials of the East India Company saw the Hindu pilgrimage as a means to collect large sums of revenue through a “pilgrim tax” and taxes on the trade that occurred during the festival. There are mentions that the British officials tried to raise taxes very heavily, and the attendance to the events fell drastically as result of it. In earlier times, British would only collect taxes, but would not provide any infrastructure. This changed particularly after 1857. The Kumbh Melas emerged as one of the social and political mobilisation venues and the colonial government became keen on monitoring these developments after the first independence struggle of 1857. The government deployed police to gain this intelligence at the grassroots level of Kumbh Mela. The British officials, in co-operation with the native police, also made attempts to improve the infrastructure, and movement of pilgrims to avoid a stampede, detect sickness, and the sanitary conditions at the Melas.
Kumbh mela also played a very important role in the independence struggle of 1857. The Prayagwal community associated with the Kumbh Mela were one of those who seeded and perpetuated the resistance and 1857 rebellion against the colonial rule. Prayagwals objected to and campaigned against the colonial government-supported Christian missionaries. These missionaries and officials treated them and the pilgrims as “ignorant co-religionists”; and aggressively tried to convert the Hindu pilgrims to a Christian sect. During the 1857 independence struggle, Colonel Neill targeted the Kumbh Mela site and shelled the region where the Prayagwals lived, destroying it.
The Kumbh Mela continued to play an important role in the independence movement through 1947, as a place where the native people and politicians periodically gathered in large numbers. In 1906, the Sanatan Dharm Sabha met at the Prayag Kumbh Mela and resolved to start the Banaras Hindu University in Madan Mohan Malaviya’s leadership. Kumbh Melas have also been one of the hubs for the Hindutva movement and politics. In 1964, the Vishva Hindu Parishad was founded at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela.
The events at the Kumbh Mela are not limited to just sacred bath. The activities at the mela include religious discussions (pravachan), devotional singing (kirtan), and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardised (shastrartha). The festival grounds also feature a wide range of cultural spectacles over the month of celebrations. Traditionally, the Kumbh Mela has played a very vital role in revival and spread of Hinduism, and in reinstating the trust in Hindu faith.
Dr Janki Thaker
Guest Author