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“What is the most wonderful sight in India, the strangest thing to be seen in all this land, where so many things are strange? For my part, I am inclined to doubt whether anything more impressive and picturesque can be witnessed, more fruitful, too, with meaning and transcendence, than the Kumbh Mela, or the great Pilgrims’ Fair, held once every twelve years, where the waters of the Ganges and Jumna meet, under the wall of Allahabad. humanity many aspects of Indian life and character should be hidden from you.”

– Sydney Low during the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to India (1906)

The Kumbh Mela is held in rotation between four holy places: Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. In 2010, the Kumbh Mela returned to Haridwar, where millions and millions of pilgrims come to participate. The Kumbh Mela attracts an incredible spectrum of humanity: Yogis from the Himalayas and Sikhs from the Punjab, farmers and businessmen, sannyasis and politicians. In Haridwar, the riverside steps at Har Ki Pauri, where Vishnu left his mark and the Ganges leaves the Himalayas, provide the setting for the Mela.

Kumbh is an ancient term already mentioned in the Vedas, where it refers to a jar or glass filled with water. The Kumbh is a recurring image on temples, coins, and seals, and is evident on items recovered from the Indus Valley Civilization. Generally, a Kumbh is used as a symbol of fertility. In ancient river festivals, a grain-filled Kumbh would be soaked in the waters of a sacred river and its contents would then be sown during planting time.

Kumbh in the Epics (ie the Mahabharata and the Ramayana) and the Puranas refers to the legend of the pot of Amrit (nectar of immortality) which arose from the churning of the Ocean of Milk. The Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons) decided to stir up the ocean to extract its bounty. The biggest prize was Amrit, which both groups sought to become immortal. When they succeeded in churning the ocean, Dhanvantari, the divine healer, emerged with the Kumbh of Amrit. A fight broke out between the Devas and the Asuras over who would get the Kumbh. After a fierce fight, portrayed in many different incarnations in various Puranas and Epics, the Devas finally defeated the Asuras.

“The story is great, one might say enormous. Every twelfth year is considered a year of peculiar grace; then a greatly increased volume of pilgrims results. The twelfth year has had this distinction since the earliest times, it is said.”

– Mark Twain during his travels in India at the end of the 19th century

Pilgrimage to holy sites is a very ancient practice found almost universally in all world religions. But the pilgrimage also has an inner path along with the outer path of traveling to a holy place. The pilgrimage includes the internal journey to the religion itself. In the beginning, the performance of Yajnya (sacrificial ritual) dominated in Hindu religions. Over time, the vast amount of resources from the sacrifices and the exclusion of much of the population from performing Yajnya led to the development of substitutes. One expression of this development is the institution of pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage sites in India are known as Tirthas, which is derived from the Sanskrit verb “Tr” meaning to cross. The term Tirtha appears eight times in the Rig Vega, all of them associating it with water. Over time, the term Tirtha was used more and more exclusively for river banks or river confluences sanctified by the performance of sacrifices and the revelation of mantras.

The formation of Hindu pilgrimage sites was largely shaped through important ritual sacrifices that were performed at a specific location. Because these places were usually close to water sources (rivers, lakes and the sea), they became the main places of pilgrimage centers and remain so today (for example, Puri, Gaya, Haridwar and Varanasi). The prominence of water stems from its many qualities: water is frequently used in sacrifices, is the primordial source of creation, symbolizes the flow of life, and is required for purification rituals.

The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore offers a similar logic behind the location of Indian pilgrimage sites: “India chose her pilgrimage sites where there was some special greatness or beauty in nature, so that her mind could break out of her world of limited needs. and realize their place in infinity”.

In addition, Tirthayatra (pilgrimage) offers the opportunity to step out of the historically and socially structured time of one’s daily life and into the sacred mythological time of the gods. Even untouchables and widows, who are otherwise generally excluded from most religious rituals, can participate, allowing them to break away from the rigid structures of their local communities. At Tirthas, a sacred re-enactment of myths takes place as per the religious beliefs of the Hindus. Pilgrims walk on the same ground that the deities and heroes of the epics walked on. A whole cosmic event is repeated with the pilgrims as participants.

“Although Hinduism does not make pilgrimage compulsory, ordinary Hindus attach great importance to tirth-yatra, where they resort to a large number of activities to earn merit, such as taking a holy dip, darshan (respectful view of devotion and surrender) of deities, temples, and ascetics, performing worship, listening to religious discourses, hymns, and devotional songs in praise of the deity, doing charity to Brahman, beggars, and ascetics – all these believed [are] it is believed to gain punya for an individual, thus advancing him towards the ultimate goal of moksh.” (“The Tradition of Kumbh”, Das and Singh, 1990)

“The Fair (…) is run by associations of ascetics, who have their branches all over India. They assume the dress of fakir, or lack of dress, and walk in rags, with matted hair, face and body daubed in river clay. Some of them wear no clothes at all, and are regarded on this account with a peculiar reverence.”

– Sydney Low during the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to India (1906)

Around the 8th century CE, Adi Shankarachrya, a supporter of Advaita Vedanta, is believed to have established four Mathas (Hindu monastic establishments) in North, South, East and West India. These four Mathas later started their own Akharas (gym centers) to train their ascetics in the martial arts. Frequent claims are made that the first Akharas already arose during the first millennium CE.

Alternatively, theories abounded that the Akharas were founded to defend Hindu temples from Muslim invaders in the early 2nd millennium CE. In the time of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, there were large numbers of armed ascetics all over India. They did not only come from the Hindu religion. Many of them were also Muslim ascetics.

During the time of Mughal decline in India, orders of military ascetics became important players in the quest for power. Some orders had more than 10,000 warriors under their command. They used state-of-the-art weaponry, including muskets and artillery, as well as horses, camels, and elephants. The most famous fighting ascetic, Umrao Giri (alias Himmat Bahadur), even ruled his own little kingdom between 1790 and 1802. The Kumbh Melas served as the arena for the mobilization, recruitment and mercenary employment of the Akharas.

These orders of ascetics were not only mercenaries, but also successful merchants. During their annual pilgrimage cycle, they were free to transport goods due to their sacred status. They focused on small but high-value goods to maximize their profits. The remains of this trade can still be found today. Many members of these orders trade in crystals, beads, and hashish.

Militant ascetics made use of their Akharas as banking, marketing, and information networks. In times of conflict, Akharas also served as a safe haven. By 1750, the Shaiva Akharas were the largest owners of many pilgrimage centers. They were in the business of lending money and using their military apparatus to enforce loan repayments.

In contrast to the Shaiva Akharas, the historical reason for the rise of the Vaishnava Bairagi (dispassionate or dispassionate) Akharas can be traced. The Bairagi Akharas were created as a reaction to Shaiva Akharas militants who intimidated religious pilgrims, attacked Hindu pilgrimage sites and tried to gain financial control of holy centers.

Rivalries between Vaishnava and Shaiva ascetics were not only based on ideological or religious differences, but also on their historical interactions. They typically fought on opposite sides when hired as mercenaries and fought for control of important religious centers, as these brought prestige, power bases, and continuous streams of income.

Even today, Vaishnava and Shaiva ascetics camp separately during Kumbh Melas and rarely associate with each other. But surprisingly, the Kumbh Mela is one of the few pilgrimages where the sectarian itineraries of the Sadhus intersect. Surprisingly, in addition to the Vaishnava and Shaiva orders, ascetic orders that are often considered not to belong to the Hindu religion play a very prominent role in the Kumbh Mela. The Udasi think of the holy book of the Sikh religion, the Granth Sahib, as a very important part of their tradition. The Nirmalas go even further in their syncretism. They proclaim in their prayers that the Puranas and the Qur’an are one and emphasize the identity of (Hindu deity) Rama and Rahim (one of the 99 names of Allah in Islam).

When the various religious orders, especially the Akharas, arrive at the townships that are erected for each Kumbh Mela, they enter into pompous parades called Peshvais (receptions). Monastic heads are adorned like royalty in these parades. They are carried in palanquins or mounted on elephants, and wear fine robes and ornate headdresses during the Peshvais. They are accompanied by brass bands and traditional musicians. Worshipers line up on the roadsides to receive their Darshan. The Kumbh Mela is the only place where the Akharas still display the splendor in which they used to travel through the major pilgrimage centers in times gone by.

During the Kumbh Mela, sadhus who have not seen each other in years meet again. The brotherhood between groups is reinforced and decisions are made about promotions and ranks. Furthermore, each Akhara forms an assembly called the Shambu Panch, actually the collective of all the members assembled, who elect a main council of eight Mahants (great leaders). This main council, called the Shri Panch, controls the affairs of Akhara through unanimous decisions. The Kumbh Mela is not only a time for coordination within but also between the various religious orders. During religious discussions and conferences, conflicts between religious orders are resolved.

The climax of the Kumbh Mela is the procession of Sadhus leading to the particular bathing spots along the rivers. On the three main bathing dates, the Akharas lead the procession of the Snan (bath), which is then called the Shahi (royal) Snan. Interestingly, the Persian Muslim name for “king” was chosen and not the Hindu variant, Raja. Leading each Akhara regiment in the procession are long spears who are worshiped by the Akhara as their Ishta (gods). The Ishta bathe first in ceremonial prayer and only afterwards, the Sadhus will enter the water.

The entire atmosphere of the Kumbh Mela is charged with religious fervor. There is a powerful impact when millions of people come together to participate in the ritual of the collective bath. Thus a sense of brotherhood develops among Hindus, despite the different sectarian origins, ethnicities and languages ​​present during the festival.

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