“Such a huge festival and so peaceful, this would be impossible in Germany. There would be alcohol and brawls”, a German student told me once during a previous Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.
The present Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, has attracted so far over 600 million visitors. And the final Shahi Snan (Royal Bath) on Mahashivaratri is still to come on 26. February. 600 million pilgrims streamed into a city of 1.4 million inhabitants! It is inconceivable. And absolutely stunning, how well organised and how clean the place is.
No other country could manage this feat of hosting over half a billion people from a logistic angle. In fact, no other country, except India and China, comes even close in its population to the number of people who visited the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj since January 13th. It is officially the biggest gathering that ever happened in world history, acknowledged in the Guiness book.
And why do they all come between January 13th and February 26th?
They come for spiritual reasons. According to the Indian tradition, a dip in the holy confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the underground Saraswati at a certain celestial constellation, which repeats every 12 years, is highly beneficial for spiritual upliftment. It helps achieving Mukti, which means liberation from the cycle of birth and death and merging with one’s divine essence.
The bath not only energises. It connects with one’s spiritual nature. It renews one’s aspiration to live life in a way, so that Mukti can be achieved. It connects one to the cosmos and the heavenly beings. It connects one also to numerous earlier generations.
The amazing thing: in spite of big crowds everywhere, everyone is good-natured, patient and accommodative of others. It’s truly incredible. The atmosphere is exhilarating. Devotion is in the air. Joy is in the air. One feels connected to humanity.
Not only Indians come. Foreigners come, too, and many are touched to the core. I saw a woman, probably from eastern Europe, fighting with tears and her voice breaking, when she tried to explain, what it means for her to be in the midst of “so many good people”.
The good-naturedness of everyone stood out for me, too. Rich and poor, young and old, educated and illiterate – people from all possible backgrounds are present. They differ in their way of worship. Yet it does not matter if somebody is a devotee of Shiva or Vishnu, or Devi, or Ganesha or Sri Ram or Sri Krishna. Or if someone is an Advaitin, or follows Dwaita. It doesn’t matter to which caste one belongs. It is a stunning example of utmost social harmony.
It shows, that we all could get along so well on this earth, if only we would try to make things easier and not more difficult for each other. And also, if only there were no ‘scholars’ or ‘activists’, who try to find faults and encourage social divisions for the ulterior ends of those who give them grants.
It’s hard to understand, but certain forces don’t like this demonstration of social harmony. They prefer a divided society. They probably would not even mind, if a disaster struck to put Hindus in general, and the chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who organised the Mahakumbh and is himself a Yogi in the Nath tradition, in a bad light. The recent scandal around USAID points to the possibility that ulterior motives are indeed in play not only in media but also in academia and NGOs. Even a few politicians with Hindu names, who are beholden to their vote bank of non-Hindus, tried to demean the Kumbh Mela.
Very unfortunately, a stampede indeed happened on 29th January. Thirty pilgrims died and over 60 were injured. An inquiry is on. Someone, who claimed he was present in the crowd when it happened, mentioned on Facebook that a group of 30 to 40 young men actively triggered the stampede by jumping over the barricades and encouraging others to do so.
Another attempt to bring disrepute to the Mahakumbh was the accusation that the water quality is unfit for bathing. This claim was carried by several media outlets. It is common knowledge in Bharat that self-purification is inherent in Ganges water. The research during the Mahakumbh by Dr Sonkar revealed indeed that Ganga water contains 1,100 types of bacteriophages — natural viruses that eliminate harmful bacteria. “This self-purifying mechanism ensures that the river remains uncontaminated even after 57 crore devotees have taken a dip,” a release by the UP government stated.
Another invented fault unravelled at the Kumbh: where are all those sexual abusers for which ‘Hindu culture’ has been lambasted for so long? The atmosphere is absolutely safe for women, in spite of them coming out from the river in wet cloth.
A young girl who sold garlands at the Kumbh, became a sensation on social media due to her striking beauty and poise, and made it to the news. Many pilgrims, boys, too, wanted a selfie with her. But just this: a selfie. It’s innocent. A beautiful girl is appreciated. A sexy girl would be so much out of place.
Yet as mentioned already, it seems to irritate certain people that the Kumbh is seen positively by the great majority of people. And it seems, they work on different levels:
Two social media accounts put up for sale videos of women bathing at the Kumbh. Numerous media outlets reported the story. The UP police registered cases and asked Meta’s help to identify the account operators. It will be interesting to find out who they were and what their motive was.
A strange comment by ‘swisstrashcam’ was forwarded on social media and came also to me.
It said: “My Dadi (grandmother) went to the Kumbh years back and she saw that, as a girl climbed out of the river, even meditating sages were looking at her body. My Didi vowed that not a single woman from her bloodline will ever bathe in the Kumbh! So now, not even the males do.”
Is it a genuine comment? I doubt it. But if it is, his Dadi must have been one of the first Indian feminists who didn’t expect anything good from men.
This comment, however, brings me to another point which is VERY important. Lakhs of sadhus and sages, who dedicated their life to the search for truth, and live in caves in the Himalayas or wander as mendicants through the land, are present at the Kumbh Mela. Apart from the bath, they are the other great attraction for the lay people. They are grouped in different Akharas with different traditions, yet here also, the differences don’t matter. What matters is that they all know that the spiritual level needs nourishment, when life is to have meaning.
They uplift the atmosphere with their tremendous energy. Their huge number shows the strength and vitality of Bharat’s ancient civilization. These sadhus may have a strange appearance, but we better don’t underestimate their sadhana. Many have inexplicable powers.
Now the most important question: When hundreds of millions of humans, each with his own (often strong) opinion, can come peacefully together in a very small area, can’t 8 billion humans live peacefully together on our big earth?
Bill Gates is the face for many, who demand since decades that we need to drastically reduce the world population. Elon Musk contradicts and says, we need more people. Maybe in Bharat, people tend to agree with Gates, since Bharat is indeed densely populated. But our earth is far from overpopulated:
Imagine: all people on this earth move to Africa. It would increase the population of Africa from presently 1.4 to 8.2 billion. Yet even with a population of 8 billion, Africa would not be as densely populated as Bharat is today because the area of Africa is ten times that of India. It means, if Africa had 14 billion inhabitants, it would be as densely populated as India is today!
Another example: Uttar Pradish and Bihar have about the same area as Germany. Yet while only 83 million live in Germany, in those two Indian states live 345 million! Plus tigers, leopards, elephants, monkeys, snakes, etc.
Germany would need to accommodate within its borders all the French, Italians, Spanish, English and Australians, to be on par with Bharat! This is inconceivable. I mentioned it once to a Spanish girl in Rishikesh. Her reaction: “People would be at each other’s throat!” And of course, there would be no wildlife left.
No doubt, Bharat is special. Hindus easily accept that others, including animals, also have a right to be here. Spirituality is in the air. Devotion for God is naturally expressed. If proof is needed, the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj is the proof.
Hindus know that we all are children of the one great Ishwar or Brahman and that the Self in all of us is ONE. If only all people worldwide had such an open and intelligent mind!
By Maria Wirth
Background of the Kumbh Mela from my book “Thank you India”
The reason why during the time of the mela bathing in the Ganges is especially helpful for spiritual growth is given in a story, which since ancient times is connected with specific locations in northern India.
Long, long ago, at the beginning of our present world cycle, gods and demons tried to release the lost nectar of immortality by vigorously churning the milk ocean. When the jar (kumbh) filled to the brim with the nectar finally emerged, a wild chase started. The son of Indra had seized the vessel with the precious content and the demons followed at his heels in hot pursuit. Sun, Moon and Jupiter played the role of protectors for the gods and influenced the outcome in their favour from certain positions. The chase lasted for 12 days, until the jar was finally safe with the gods.
According to the mythology, a few drops of the nectar spilled over at four places in northern India, which thereby became especially sanctified and celebrate the Kumbh Mela once in twelve years: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nasik und Ujjain. When the drops fell into the confluence in Prayagraj during the chase, Sun and Moon protected it from the position of Capricorn and Jupiter from Taurus. This constellation repeats itself once in 12 years, because according to Indian tradition one year in the life of human beings corresponds to one day in the life of gods. Each time, when this constellation repeats itself, the influence of the celestial bodies is again supposed to be highly beneficial at the place, and millions of pilgrims converge to celebrate the Kumbh Mela.
1 Comment
I read this article and felt the truth is presented in spiritual way. Thanks Maria and may God bless you. You are already liberated and no more cycle of births for you. Namaskar 🙏