I have attended earlier Kumbh melas – Poorna, Ardh but my experience of this Mahakumbh mela of Prayagraj is larger than life and if one word can be given to this religious fair, it is Anant (endless). Here everything seems endless. Whether it is the river bank or the union point of the three rivers- visible Ganga and Yamuna and the unseen Saraswati or the stream of pilgrims coming for the holy dip, it is endless. Standing in Kumbh Nagar I could not make out where the mela started and what was its end point. All roads led to the fair during Magh Poornima (full moon) bathing day. The one month long fair which started on Makar Sankranti in January and will end on Shivaratri on 26 February has an array of wonders in store for humanity.
Honest Kumbh mela
All the seven entry points to the Kumbh nagar were jam packed. But ample arrangements were made by the state police for the convenience of the people. No battery rickshaw operator extorted money from the passengers. They were scared that the police would burst their rickshaw tires with pin pricks. Despite people offering them money to take them near to the Ganga river they denied since they knew cops were standing at every point. They guided the travellers well about timings and closure of routes. One of our group members, Panki Sood, a tourism expert, asked him his name and he smilingly said, “Toofani Yadav”. The whole fair was thunderous in a way too – people, people everywhere. I had learnt about quantification of everything in any process audit of any manufacturing company but coming to Prayagraj, all quantification failed. The endless wait to reach Sangam site started from toll points on highways where the vehicles awaited clearance from the toll tax barrier. It is all computerized but doing a single entry took some seconds and that resulted in a traffic jam. At places 350 kms traffic congestion was reported. Afterall, it is the largest religious gathering on earth and this Mahakumbh has occurred after 144 years in the sequence of planetary alignments, say the astrologers.
Walk your way to Holy Sangam
Yes, we were prepared to walk miles and miles to reach the bathing point. Railways had closed the Sangham ghat station seeing the magnanimous crowd reaching from every corner. Trains were full, what to say of AC compartments – every compartment was pilgrims’ compartment. We chose to go by a Tempo Traveller, thinking it will reach closer to the Sangam where we can stay. But reaching there, as expected the 2 kms distance became some 8 miles. Jhunsi had initially given me an impression of a village but for me it turned out to be another seamless place. After taking the holy dip, walking a few kilometers, when we asked for a public vehicle point, we again got the message as 6 kms remaining. Seeing that endless walk, we rided the two wheeler bikes to reach our homestay in Jhunsi in Prayagraj. These bikers were allowed in the mela area to give rides to the pilgrims who felt unable to walk after a certain point.
Spiritual energy infuses every speck
Wherever one feels tired of walking, the energy of other pilgrim groups recharges you. We were looking for the ways to get a lift in a vehicle but seeing another group of people arriving in that endless stream who tied each other with a white rope for the fear of getting lost in the crowd, rendered in me a fresh leash of force. A 80 year old woman with a hunchback walking her way all through was another motivation for me. The collective energy of all the pilgrims worked and we moved on and on. 80 percent of the pilgrims had a holy dip in Ganga only and some gathered guts to reach the Sangam (the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna) point after another walk of 2 kilometers. By 4 pm the whole mela area was sealed and it was announced that no battery or auto rickshaw will be allowed even to enter the entry point of the mela zone. So we had left the area before after having food prashad in Sector 16 at the mela camp of Swami Umakantananda from Haridwar who belongs to Atal Akhara of Sannyasis. Meditation experience inside his camp was so intense that Uma and Rama, members of our group, did not feel like leaving the place but we had to. Bhavya from Bangalore could not understand the language of the members of her group but still felt elated as some inner power was playing through.
Mela Gates spoke of Hindu mythology
Walking past the Sector 21 of the Kumbh Nagar, one could see Ahrawat Dwar on one side.
The beautiful design of the gate showcased the picture of a majestic elephant. The gates in all the sectors were named after characters of Puranas. Another gate showcased the churning of the ocean by Devas and Asuras to get the Amrit (elixir of immortality) from the ocean.
Mythology says by churning of the ocean by Devas and Asuras 14 ratnas came up including Aherawat elephant, Kamdhenu (wish fulfilling cow) jewels, elixir of immortality and halahal (poison). Vishnu Agarwal who owns a wellness centre in Haridwar was leading our travel group with his family and carried the 5 litre holy water cans all the way from Sangam to back home. The devotional fervor of all pilgrims was unmatchable.
Kumbh wonders
Amidst numerous wonders, a naga sadhu with ash smeared on his body was the centre of attraction in the mela zone on river sand. He had a cage-like structure of thorny leafless bushes around his legs. He did not speak any word but people surrounded him and offered him money. He was just striking the damru at times as a mark of blessing to the people who approached him.
Two sadhus wearing loin cloth body wrap and long matted locks like Shiva were riding the camel and people were bowing before them. A little child dressed like Lord Shiva and roamed in the mela zone giving blessings to the pilgrims.