Kumbh Mela 2019 Diaries - Part 2

Kumbh 2019

The Pilgrim’s Experience At Kumbh Mela:

The two biggest attractions for pilgrims were taking a holy bath in Ganga and seeking the darshan of sadhus and saints. They were there in the hundreds of thousands, staying at the camps of their respective akharas, monastic orders.

Ashwin Johar, 45, of Delhi summarized the experience for many: “Here at one place hundreds of thousands of people are chanting the name of God at one time. It seems that the whole universe is reverberating with the holy songs. This is something out of this world. The kind of arrangements made for this Kumbh are unimaginable and unprecedented.”

At its peak on the auspicious days of the Royal Baths (Shahi Snan), tens of millions of pilgrims followed along as the various akharas of saints took their baths, starting early in the morning following a traditional order of seniority. All proceeded toward the river in a mood of meditation and as they approached the water danced with joy, shouting “Har Har Gange” and “Har Har Mahadeva” before rushing into the icy water. This is the one time ordinary devotees get a glimpse of the renunciate naga sadhus, here in huge numbers and unclothed except for garlands around their necks. For many pilgrims, darshan of these holy men and women is as great a blessing as the river bath.

Most of the pilgrims are from the rural areas, many coming straight from the bus stands with luggage on their heads. Dressed in colorful dhoti kurtas and saris, they stand in contrast to the urbanites in their jeans, trousers and t-shirts. Whether urban or rural, all move silently toward the river.

After immersion in the icy water, most can be seen performing puja on the river banks, some with the help of priests. In a few places, even small homas, fire ceremonies, are performed. Many arrive and leave on the same day; but before departing the grounds, pilgrims give donations to the beggars and poor people lined up to receive them.

A special class of pilgrims are the kalpvasis, who come here to live for an entire month. One of these, Govind Ram Agarwal, is here with his wife, Santosh. “I will be wearing just one dhoti, and both of us will have food only once a day. Whatever the climatic condition, we have to have our holy bath every day. We spend our time attending Bhagwat Kathas and visiting the different camps of saints.”

Naga Sadhus At Kumbh Mela

Another type of devotee we encountered here can’t really be called pilgrims, for they live in Prayagraj itself. Arun Kumar Pandey, 65, belongs to a group of locals who come every single day, year around, to bathe at the Sangam. He pointed out that the Kumbh area was so large that the kalpvasis and the elderly had trouble negotiating the long distances to reach the confluence area.

The Transient Camps:

Each of the major akharas has its own flag for their main Deity flying high above a temporary temple, where regularly scheduled worship is open to all devotees. The overall mood is one of a festival, with statues and pictures of Gods and Goddesses placed everywhere.

There are thousands of such camps, big and small, where pilgrims can meet and talk with the saints and participate in havan (fire worship), katha (storytelling presentations), lectures and bhajan, which take place all day and into the night. One small camp, Maibada, “home of the mothers,” is for women saints of the Juna Akhara. There are also individual tents with ash-smeared sadhus sitting around their fire pits, performing puja or tapas. If the sadhus appear occupied, pilgrims will just silently take their darshan (blessings) from a distance. One can also sit patiently and wait for an audience.

It is customary in all camps at all times of the day for the saints to offer tea and snacks to the pilgrims. The major camps provide bhandaras, or community meals, three times a day, which are a mainstay for kitchenless devotees. At many places there are arrangements for serving the sadhus separately.

The most magnificent and talked-about camp here was that of Swami Avdheshanand, head of Juna Akhara, which housed thousands of saints and devotees. Despite its nonpermanence, the main tent of the meticulously landscaped camp looked like a huge palace, tastefully decorated and furnished. Another hall held several thousand devotees at a time for kathas, cultural programs and talks. Though far from the main Sangam area, it was a big attraction for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. It is believed this one camp cost around two million dollars.

Pilgrims also flocked to the camp of Swami Karshney Gurusharanananda Ji Maharaj, another eminent saint of India. Here too, was a prodigious hall where cultural programs went on continually.

Policing the Kumbh Mela:

THERE ARE TWO MAJOR THREATS TO AN EVENT OF THIS KIND: A terrorist attack and a stampede. In the worst-case scenario, the former causes the latter. Involved in security were police from 25 states, plus all three wings of India’s armed forces—army, navy and airforce. The navy provided water rescue training and the air force supplied ambulances and fire-fighting equipment and personnel.

According to Purnendu Singh, additional superintendent of police, the protection against terrorism involved heavy deployment of both police and armed forces on all main roads leading to the Kumbh, beginning 150 kilometers out and continuing inward through five levels of security, with checkpoints and random searches. Anti-sabotage and bomb detection teams conducted daily sweeps, while 460 closed-circuit cameras monitored the Kumbh area. Stampedes were successfully averted by paying careful attention to the flow of pilgrims, with designated entry and exit routes—avoiding the two-way traffic which in the past has led to disasters.

Theft was also a major problem, though obviously a different level of concern than terrorist attacks or stampedes. According to Singh, there are entire communities known for their criminal activity at the Kumbh. One such is the Burwar tribe from Gonda. “They do not come as individuals,” he said. “The complete village comes—men, women and children—with only theft in mind, no religious purpose. They are very organized and immediately have members depart the area with the stolen jewelry or cash, so it is very tough to recover anything. But overall, it is difficult to commit a crime in the area due to the heavy deployment of all kinds of forces here.”