Education & Career Trends: February 4
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Original article by Kulbhushan Kain published on garhwalpost.in
By a rough estimate, more than 500 million people (50 crore) would have visited the Mahakumbh in the course of 45 days at Prayagraj. Just to give the reader a better perspective – the figure is more than the entire population of America, and 250 times more than the pilgrims who went for Haj in Saudi Arabia last year. The Kumbh is an unbelievable expression of Hindu faith. People are willing to risk dying and getting separated.
The Kumbh Mela can be described in a number of ways – a “sacred tradition”, “the supreme pilgrimage”, “an ascendance”, “a holy confluence of rivers”, and most appropriately, “ a gathering of people so large it is beyond comprehension of sight and sound”.
It is widely believed that the Kumbh Mela is a religious festival which originated in the formative years of the Sanatan Dharma. The religious mela, i.e., a fair in Prayagraj has not only survived, but also evolved with the passage of time.
It was common for the early Aryans to organise yearly fairs at specific times at different locations. There are many Puranic references about the significance of “Prayag”, “sangam”, the month of “magh”, and the “sagar manthan”. The word Kumbh is missing – but there is no doubt that huge melas were held and organised. Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador to the court of Chandragupta, is said to have visited a mela for 75 days in the 3/4th century BC. If we read and analyse the account of Hsiuan Tsang, the great Chinese traveller, who visited Prayag in 643 AD, he mentions a fair that was held there, without mentioning its name as ‘Kumbh’. Nicolao Mannuci, the Italian traveller who visited India between 1165-1717 AD, mentions a festival being held at Prayag. However, the first mention of the word Kumbh is found in the Persian work “Khulasatut –Tawarik” in 1695 and “ Chahar Gushan” in 1759. The Khulasat-Tawarikh gives a description of the Kumbh mentioning specific yearly cycles and astrological significance of the fairs.
Going through the records, the myth was broken about the existence of the event of Kumbh by the name of Kumbh, in the ancient times. An annual affair known as “Magh Mela” with its roots in Prayag had then existed. Then, the size of its gathering not only differed, but also often grew with each passing year.
Regardless of the debate over the exact historicity of the Kumbh Mela, one cannot deny that it is a spectacular event and unique to India. Because of such a large and peaceful gathering of pilgrims, it has evoked great global interest.
It has also faced many challenges. It is said that, when Aurangzeb took over the throne, he tried to put an end to it. He thought of it as a futile Hindu activity that did not conform to his beliefs. Upon doing so, he had to face the stiff resistance of the Naga Sadhus, each of whom was brave and armed with a trishul, i.e., a trident. Aurangzeb not only was taken aback seeing the ash smeared naked sadhus, braving the chilly winter and bathing in chilled river waters early in the morning, but also decided not to interfere with them as they were devoid of valuables. This fact has been recorded by Khafi Khan in his book titled ‘History of Alamgir’.
When the British took over, they also perceived the congregation as a compulsive headache to be managed. This was owing to not only the large size of the gathering, but also the great excitement of bathing in the Holy Ganga with which the people were charged up. At first, they were not sure if they could manage such a large congregation. However, they soon realised a huge economic opportunity here. They began taxing the pilgrims and charged a sum of one rupee as a tax to bathe in the holy water during this fair. One rupee at that time was considered quite an amount, enough to survive for a month! Thus, we can safely say that the organised system of holding large religious fairs such as the one in Prayagraj was introduced by the British in the beginning of 19th century.
There are 3 types of Kumbh Melas – “Ardhkumbh” every six years, “Poornakumbh” every twelve years, and “Mahakumbh” after twelve cycles of 12 years, each. What we are celebrating at Prayagraj at the moment is Mahakumbh. It has come after 144 years!
That is why it is so special.
The four Kumbh Melas must take place on the banks of a sacred river during a time that is predetermined, unique and an auspicious astrological arrangement, which involves the Sun, the Moon or Jupiter. The four cities which host the Kumbh Melas are Prayagraj, Hardwar, Ujjain and Nashik. These cities are located on the bank of the holy rivers – the Ganga, the Shipra and the Godavari. However, Prayagraj, the “tirtha raja”, is considered the crest of such holy sites. It is where the Ganga meets its biggest tributary, the Yamuna, and the invisible River Saraswati. It is here at the “Triveni” that the Kumbh Mela is considered most powerful. According to the Matsya Purana, those who bathe here during the month of Magh will not be reborn even in a thousand years!
The Indologist, Dr GC Tripathi, describes the most important part of the Kumbh as, “The element of a cosmic force called “amrit” or nectar. Since the dates are decided astrologically and the sun is behind the moon in this phase, its heat and energy results in the release of the “amrit” generated in the moon. The belief is that taking a dip in the sacred water during the Kumbh brings the blessings of the nectar.”
Perhaps the best description of the Kumbh, comes from the pen of a foreigner – Mark Twain. He visited Prayagraj in 1895 and wrote, “These pilgrims had come from all over India. Some of them had been months on the way, plodding patiently along the heat and dust, worn and poor, hungry but supported and sustained by an unwavering belief. It is wonderful what the power of faith can make on multitudes upon multitudes, the young, old, weak, frail who enter without hesitation or complaint upon such an incredible journey.”
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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