Mahakumbh 2013 - 1

The Maha Kumbh comes every 144 years to the Prayag at Allahabad, in North India. This place is revered by all Hindus as the confluence (Sangam) of the holy rivers: Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. This mela is the largest religious gathering in the world and over 100,000,000 visitors will travel from around the globe to bathe at the Sangam during the 55 auspicious days of this year’s festival - in the belief that they will be cleansed of their sins and closer to salvation (Nirvana) from the cycle of birth and death.

Our journey begins at the New Delhi railway station on an overcast winter evening. The mood is somewhat sober - less than a week ago, 36 pilgrims died in a stampede at Allahabad junction as surging crowds tried to make their way home at the end of the most auspicious bathing date - yet we are elated at the prospect of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. We are not sure what to expect, but resolve to put aside our rational, everyday selves and keep our expectations low. We hope it will be a religious journey to connect with the core of our spiritual beings as well as an opportunity to witness and be part of a unique spectacle...

The train is punctual, our compartment easily-found and our berths perfectly made up for the night, with spotless white linen - so far so good!  We hug each other gleefully like breathless schoolgirls on the brink of an exciting adventure, before tucking into our picnic dinner! The train ride is reassuringly uneventful. Before we know it, dawn is breaking over the familiar North Indian countryside and we are alighting at our destination. The railway platform is peopled with just a few sleepy travellers and a strong police presence is evident all about us as we make our way over the fateful over-bridge, site of last week’s tragedy. Soon we are past the barricade outside the station and in the rickety cab that has been sent to fetch us. Our driver, Pandey-ji has severely betel-stained teeth and is a fount of information on the Kumbh, Allahabad and the world in general! He drives expertly through the chaotic morning traffic and describes how heavy rain the night before has wreaked havoc on the river banks and camping grounds. In fact, we barely check into our ‘Swiss luxury’ tent before the sky darkens ominously, is rent by a huge bolt of lightning and then a deafening roll of thunder heralds more rain. Great timing Pandey-ji!

Thankfully our tent holds up and the connected toilet is a blessing (of a kind!) though from time to time we must tip out the water that pools in its sagging roof! The huge dining tent is mercifully close by and we dash through the rain for our meals. In the makeshift kitchen, a small efficient crew prepares simple meals for 400 people, four times a day, even as giant food containers float in the pooling rainwater. We love the piping hot ‘ginger water’ that accompanies every meal! The entire camp ground is a vast field of muddy slush and while we tread gingerly and lament our mud-stained shoes, we are shamed by so many others who walk barefoot and unmindful.   

All through that first day and night, the rain comes down in unending sheets out of a dark sky, lit up by streaks of lightning and marked with deafening claps of thunder. We have no electricity that evening and turn in soon after dinner, talking in the darkness, laughing at this or that, sharing our impressions -- how large the camp is, how many foreigners there seem to be, how we will head to the Sangam tomorrow! It is the perfect day just to distance ourselves from our day-to-day realities and enter this other consciousness. On this day, we have no duties to discharge, no deadlines to meet, no worries at all. We sleep the deep and dreamless sleep of the truly trouble-free, with the storm as background music...