Coming soon: A pontoon bridge set up for the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj which will begin on January 13 | Salil Bera
Stunning spectacle: Mahant Raj Giri or ‘Tarzan Baba’ with his Ambassador car | Salil Bera
A woman sadhu at the Atal Akhara in Prayagraj | Salil Bera
Celebration of a different kind: Dokanji is a brand ambassador of the campaign against banned plastic in the Mahakumbh | Salil Bera
The melding of an ancient amorphous faith and the latest science; of an antique tradition and new practices; of ways of life older than memory and new expressions is happening at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
Here, the mighty Ganga, flowing southward and eastward across the Gangetic plain, meets the Yamuna approaching it from the right. The former is the Mother Goddess who forgives all; the latter, the daughter of Surya (sun) who can burn all evil. When the two meet the mythical Saraswati―the gentle river of knowledge and music; a confluence unlike any other in Hinduism―is formed. On the banks of this conflux is rising an ephemeral city of faith and science where the Mahakumbh will begin from January 13.
A camel owner waiting for a rider at the mela ground | Salil Bera
In 2019, when the Kumbh Mela was held in Prayagraj, the number of attendees was 24 crore. In 2021, when the fair was held in Haridwar, the number was much smaller―91 lakh (understandable, since the banks of the Ganga do not offer the vast space that they do in Prayagraj). This time, by estimates put forth by the Uttar Pradesh government, there will be at least 45 crore visitors, though it is prepared to cater to more than double that number. Consider this―one in every three Indians will be at the Mahakumbh.
What makes this event particularly auspicious is that it is being held after 12 Mahakumbhs, each of which is held after 12 years.
Pilgrims going to the sangam for a holy dip | Salil Bera
This Mahakumbh will take place under a rare astral combination. Jupiter, the planet of wisdom, will be placed in Aries and Taurus, while the sun and the moon together shall transition into Capricorn. This is the same astrological make up that marked the discovery of amrit (the divine elixir) when the devas and asuras churned the mighty ocean. A fierce tussle between the forces of good and evil ensued when the pitcher (kumbha in Sanskrit) containing amrit was discovered and a few drops from this fell at Nashik, Ujjain, Haridwar and Prayagraj―the four cities in which the Kumbh Mela is held by rotation.
The elixir of this Mahakumbh is digital technology flowing through some 2,700 cameras which will monitor the city. At its nerve centre is the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) where this feed will be watched 24x7 and prescient action taken. Over 1.5 lakh tents and toilets will be similarly monitored. Banners, bearing QR codes, will be spread throughout the mela area―red for medical emergency; blue for transportation; green for accommodation and yellow for details of religious events.
Unity in sacred water: Shivalaya Park | Salil Bera
In addition, 54 standard operating procedures have been put in place to tackle every conceivable threat―from fire to chemical and biological accidents. And drones will not just monitor the skies, they will also dive 100 metres into the waters to ensure safety. This, in addition to the 12km of floating boom barricades, attached with four feet of nets, that have been set up in the river to prevent mishaps.
A seven-layer blanket of security will envelop the state during the Mahakumbh. This outermost ring will encompass all points of origin from which pilgrims will set off for the fair. An integration of the mela security intelligence with the National Highway Authority of India means that data of all vehicles passing through toll plazas will be available in real time to the ICCC. While ICCC viewing centres throughout the 4,000 hectares of the mela area will minimise response times.
Floating changing rooms | Salil Bera
Rajesh Dwivedi, the senior superintendent of police of the Mahakumbh Mela district, said, “We are confident of safely handling even a crowd of 10 crores on any day of the royal (rajasi) bath.”
It is a visually stunning spectacle―of sadhus running towards the confluence as crowds cheer them on and drench them with flowers. There is a strict order to be followed for this ritual bathing―of which there are three in this Mahakumbh.
Arail Ghat, which has been beautified | Salil Bera
The mela district of which Dwivedi is the SSP is unique to the Prayagraj fair. Every time the Kumbh comes by, a new district is notified by the government. It has its own district magistrate and SSP, in addition to other officials who carry out their duties with the same authority that vests in similar appointees in any other regular district. This time it was notified as UP’s 76th district on December 1 and shall remain in existence for four months. Spread over 25 sectors, the district has 56 police stations, 155 police outposts, one cyber cell unit and a women police station, in addition to three water police stations and the same number of anti-trafficking police stations; besides 10 digital lost and found centres that will leverage the power of social media.
In this new district, space is allocated to the 13 akharas (place of practice) which will stay the duration of the fair. The akharas are the soul of the Mahakumbh, for it is here that they congregate to exchange ideas, pray together, initiate new members and the like. In the times of yore, when means of communication were limited, it is these fairs that offered meeting spaces.
Integrated Command and Control Centre | Salil Bera
There are two other meanings of the word akhara. One is a distortion of the word akhand, which means undivided or unified; while an akhara is also a wrestling pit. In a philosophical sense, it is the spiritual core/institution, the members of which share the same guru.
It is within these akharas set up by Adi Shankaracharya that saints of yore were trained in the religious texts and in weaponry and combat skills to protect Hinduism as it came under repeated onslaught from invaders. Traditionally, they received great grants of land and wealth from rulers and landlords for this task.
The sadhus, who form the spine of this system, are required to leave behind all materialistic luxuries to serve the cause of Sanatan (traditional form of Hinduism). At the Kumbh, they perform their own last rites signalling an end of all relations to the material and physical world. The highest of these renouncers are the Naga sadhus, who are present in almost all akharas, though their largest number is in the Juna akhara. They have given up even clothes and live by the credo ‘ek haath mein bhala, ek haath mein mala’ (a spear in one hand, prayer beads in the other). As warriors they were notoriously difficult to take on―for how do you scare someone who has willingly lost even the clothes off one’s back?
Akharas are organised under the dashnami (tradition of ten names) under which various lineages of Brahmin sadhus, yogis and shamans are categorised into monastic orders of 10 names. These are: Puri, Giri, Bharati, Saraswati, Tirtha, Van, Aranya, Sagar, Parvat, and Ashram and originate from the preferred place of worship. Thus, one bearing the name Aranya would worship in forests, while a sadhu bearing the name Parvat would contemplate in the mountains. Any Hindu can, by following certain stipulations, become a part of these akharas. And contrary to popular belief, women are also members.
The ordained austerity of the lives of sadhus (they eat just once and bathe three times every day during the fair, besides practising other forms of self-restraint) seems at variance with the grandiosity of the Mahakumbh. A majestic grandness is also displayed during the nagar pravesh―a ceremonial entry into the mela grounds where processions march behind the dharm dhwaj (religious flag)―the distinctive flag of each akhara.
Satyam Giri, the Shri Mahant of the Shri Shambhu Panchayati Atal Akhara, said that such displays were symbolic of the strength of Sanatan as a philosophy. “This grandiosity attracts the young towards Sanatan,” he said.
And attracted they are. On the mela grounds―which are still a work in progress with luxury tents being pitched, bio-toilets being set up and spaces for shops being allocated, it is the young who are most eager for selfies with sadhus. And one is never too far from a reel-making youngster.
Deepak Tiwari, 24, is part of a local digital platform. He said that the views and followers had seen a spike since his team started to put up Mahakumbh-related content. “The greatest views we got was in 2022 when we posted about a sadhu who grew gram in his mound of matted hair. Religion definitely sells,” said Tiwari.
Aditya Nath, an anthropologist, has just finished his research on the comprehensive impact of the Kumbh from the University of Allahabad. He said the interest of the young was also caused by a yearning for distinction. “In this world of homogeneity, there is, a deep need to find a national identity. And the spirituality of the Kumbh is India’s identity.” He said that the Kumbh was inherently an ‘anti-structure’ congregation, for here people bathed, ate and prayed together without any distinction of caste or creed.
A digital interest in the Mahakumbh also heightens the risks of misinformation and fake information. In a first, 56 specially trained cyber warriors will keep devotees safe from fake websites, fraudulent links and cyber scams.
The Mahakumbh is also a booster for the state’s economy. The Central government is spending Rs2,100 crore, while the state government’s budget for 500 projects is Rs7,000 crore. The Kumbh of 2019, with an investment of Rs4,200 crore by the state government, generated Rs1.2 lakh crore in revenue and gave employment to over six lakh people. This time over 10 lakh people will find work and 45,000 local families will get a share of the pie. Hotels, homestays and dormitories are sold out.
While big investments, such as those put into widening of roads, have been made, traditionally skilled workers like boatmen have also been trained to be better at their jobs while being given a big hike in the rates they are to charge.
This will also be an inclusive, gender-friendly Mahakumbh. Over 14,000 women self-help groups, in seven states, have been tasked with making 60 crore leaf plates and bowls, and cloth bags for the plastic free mela. In addition, 40 stalls at the marketplace will be managed by women who will also take charge of the one cafeteria and five canteens on the grounds.
Nirmala Bind, 70, belongs to the traditional community of boatmen. She makes mud stoves, below Prayagraj’s Shastri Bridge. These chulhas (stoves) are used by kalpvasis (devotees) to cook their meals. Said Bind, “I am hopeful of making good money this time as I hear that more people from all over the world will come here.”
One remarkable first of this Mahakumbh is in the form of floating, soundproof, temperature-resistant, changing rooms. These will save women pilgrims the ignominy of walking when wet to their boats on the banks after a dip in the sangam. A boat bringing pilgrims to the bathing area can be tethered on one side of the jetty, while the other side will have steps leading to the sangam. Made of high-density polyethylene, 12 such double-layered jetties, with 12 changing rooms each, will float at the sangam.
Pravin Agarwal, of the Varanasi-based company which is making these jetties, said that they were sturdy enough to bear 350 kilogram of weight per square metre. His company has also made six VIP lounges that will float to the sangam without disturbing ordinary pilgrims.
On both banks of the river, which can be crossed by 30 pontoon bridges, there are multiple attractions being readied at a frenzied pace. Among these is the Akshayavat corridor that draws its name from an indestructible sacred fig tree. The Shivalaya Park, shaped like the map of India, houses the replicas of all 12 Jyotirlingas in the country. Each temple in the park is made of recycled material. Then, there is the water sports arena.
But, beyond it all, what is the essence of the Mahakumbh?
Sanak Sanatan, a spiritual leader from International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), said that no words could explain what the Mahakumbh was.
Sanatan, a German by birth, was inspired to leave behind his country after a chance viewing of a film called Krishna in the Land of Vrindavan. He had just turned 22 and had been studying architecture. “Here the Ganga ji herself gives us space to understand what it is,” said the 58-year-old who is managing the vast kitchen being run by the organisation in the mela area. This will serve 50,000 vegetarian meals every single day of the fair. (There are some 200 organisations which will provide free meals during the Mahakumbh)
Mahant Aradhana Giri, 58, of the Juna Akhara said, “Think of the Kumbh as a pause from everyday living. It teaches you to turn inwards and burns your vanities. It teaches you to respect the life-giving power of nature. It is not about religion or renunciation. It is a festival that teaches you to live better.”
In this quietude, perhaps, lies the essence of life’s persistence, which makes the Mahakumbh a celebration unlike any other.