The Fantastic Bathing Fair
The Kumbha Mela is the largest congregation of people in India. Celebrated once in four years, at four different places on the banks of holy rivers, the festivities include ritual baths and sacrifices.
Literally kumbha means `pot` and mela is `a fair`. This religious fair is the biggest and the most important gathering for Hindus since time immemorial. It occurs in a 12-year cycle at each of these places - at Haridvar in Uttar Pradesh on the banks of the river Ganga; at Prayaga near Allahabad, at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers; at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, on the banks of the river Shipra; and at Nasik in Maharashtra on the Godavari River. The fair at Prayag is the biggest and considered the most virtuous.
It is popularly believed that a ritual bath at the Kumbha Mela confers extraordinary merit upon? the bather, not only by cleansing him of sins but also by helping him achieve salvation.A large number of devotees from all walks of life congregate to participatein mass yagyas here. The aim of all devotees is the same: liberation from this cycle of birth and death, and the attainment of salvation. Holy baths are undertaken at different times during the four Kumbha Melas, chiefly on the new moon and the full moon day.
Historical evidence indicates that in the centuries past, these fairs were the scenes of bloody battles, chiefly between the militant sections of rival orders of Hindu monks. The main object of contention in these battles, which occured as recently as 1807,was the right to bathe in the most auspicious place at the most powerful instant. The conflicts were so fierce that indigenous and British courts finally had to establish and enforce specific bathing orders at the various sites of the Kumbha Mela.
Apart from being a pilgrimage at which sins can be cleansed and meritgained, the fair is also ground for many religious assemblies at which doctrine is celebrated and standardised, and Hindu unity affirmed.
Today, many of those who attend Kumbha Mela have a specific gain in mind: a job, a son, or success instudies. The special power of the Kumbha Mela is often said to be due in part to the presence of a large number of Hindu monks, and many pilgrims seek darshan of these holy men. Others listen to religious discourses,? participate in devotional singing, engage Brahmin priests for personal rituals, organise mass feedings of monks or the poor, or merely enjoy the celebrations. Amid this diversity of activities, the ritual bath at the conjunction of time and place is the central event of any Kumbha Mela.
The fair is attractive, even to tourists and the less devout. Many stalls and shops are set up for the duration of the fair. The huge influx of people from all over, the smell of incense and burning sandalwood, saints in saffron robes, all this presentsa picturesque scene. The number of children who get lost during the fair is quite remarkable and also forms amoving subjective for many Indian films.
Although the word kumbha finds mention both in the Vedic and Puranic texts, there is no clear evidence regarding its origin. The Vedic hymnsmerely indicate the spiritual implications of the kumbha. In the Puranas, the kumbha has been mentioned as a holy place for the performance of death rites, a place on the bank of the Sarasvati, where a holy bath is believed to bestow the benefit of yagya performance. The kumbha of the Vedas thus represents spirituality, and that of the Puranas, benefits from the ritual baths.
According to some scholars, the Kumbha Mela is reminiscent of the Vedic way of celebrating festivals. Infact, it is probably the only remanent of Vedic celebrations, which included mass yagyas, prayers, oblations, feasts for the gods and friends in? thanksgiving, and to further underline the fact that in joy as well as in sorrow, all people should be unified.
According to a legend related to its origin, the gods and the demons had concluded a temporary alliance for the samudra manthan. Both sides agreed to divide equally all the treasures that emerged from the ocean. After many years of churning, Dhanvantari, emerged carrying the pot of amrita. He handed over the pot to Indra. The gods, inspite of their pact, were unwilling to share it with the demons.
Vishnu in the form of Mohini, a beautiful enchantress, distracted the demons, while the gods sipped the amrita. When the demons realised what was happening, they attacked the gods. They fought for 12 human years. During the battle, a few drops from the pot fell at four places on the earth - Haridvar, Prayaga, Ujjain, and Nasik. Therefore the fair is celebrated at these four places during special astrological arrangements.