Today, pilgrims from across India converged on the point where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet to take a “Royal Bath”. mapsales.com explores Kumbh Mela, a massive spiritual holiday.
January 14th marks the first day of Maha Kumbh Mela, a religious pilgrimage that attracts millions of people from across India. Officials estimate that almost 10 million pilgrims traveled to the city of Allahabad today to celebrate the holiday. They claim that over the next 2 months, more than 100 million Indians will make the pilgrimage.
The festival of Kumbh Mela is over 2,000 years old and was first recorded by Chinese traveler Xuanzang in the 600s. The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrestled from demons a golden pot containing the nectar of immortality. In a 12-day fight for possession, four drops fell to earth, in the cities of Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujain and Nasik. Every 3 years, a Kumbh Mela is held at one of these spots, with the festival at Allahabad the holiest of them all.
Today’s celebration was timed to match a specific planetary alignment; an alignment that holy men believe caused spiritual energy to flow to the Earth. The main event of the Kumbh Mela is the “Royal Bath”, a ritual in which holy men and women jump into the sacred rivers and bathe in the waters, washing away their impurities. Swami Shankranand Saraswati, a wandering 77 year-old ascetic, commented that this ritual washed away “all [his] sins, from this life and before”.
The size and strength of the religious sects involved in the tradition seem to grow every year. With India’s emerging middle class, an increasing number of Indians with disposable income are donating money to these traditional holy men. “They are more than happy to spend their surplus cash on sustaining the sadhu tradition”, said Baba Ram Puri, a 31 year-old spiritual leader.
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