Kumbh Mela reflects the timelessness of our traditions and cultures, our grassroots spiritual democracy. They hark back on our scientific temper, sometimes cloaked in the guise of ritualism.
Kumbh Mela that takes place in four holy pilgrim centres every 12 years in a cycle of 3 years between Kumbh at one centre and the other, is a grand integration of science, faith, devotion, and cultural unity of Bharat. It is the ultimate distillate of Bharatiya wisdom. No, it is not a “Bathing Festival”, as Jawaharlal Nehru described it in “Discovery of India.” It is much more than a simple dip in the holy rivers, in the current Maha Kumbh—at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers in Prayag. This holy spot is called “Triveni Sangam.”
I will not get into the details of the Puranic story of some drops of Amrit (elixir of immortality) spilling over from the pot in the hand of Bhagwan Vishnu, in the form of celestial beauty Mohini, while daanavas (evil forces of those times) chased her. For the contemporary times, I can just draw the lesson that you may need to use diversionary tactics to keep evil forces from gaining supreme powers that could create anarchy in our society and the world. If Bhagwan Vishnu were to let evil forces gain access to the Amrit by taking a high moral ground, Mother Earth and humanity would have suffered. He saw the larger good of humanity more important and did not allow daanavas to lay their hands on the “Amrit Kumbh.”
Our Rishis created religious rituals around various scientific facts to make it easier for the laypersons to follow those practices that benefit him/her and make them feel one with the nature. Offering arghya (offering water) to Sun, worshipping rivers, mountains, trees, ancient practice of small forests around every human settlement, creating imagery of different Gods riding different animals are just a few examples of this “trick.” While the Puranic story of Kumbh Melas also pin-points the four spots where Kumbh Melas are organised, it does not highlight the grand astronomical calculations that our Rishis could do based on years and years of observations to track the position of planets. Sage Ved Vyas wrote down the planetary positions of various incidents in Mahabharat, just as Sage Valmiki wrote the planetary position of planets and nakshatras thousands of years before that in Ramayan. The generally accepted period of Mahabharat is 5,000 years plus. This means our astronomy and calendars are more than 10,000 years or more. The auspicious time of the holy bath is decided primarily by the movement of the biggest planet in the solar system, Brihaspati or Jupiter. Jupiter takes 12 years to complete one circumambulation of Sun. To put our knowledge system in perspective, the West discovered Jupiter only in the 15th century.
The official site of Kumbh Mela tells us that:
“When Jupiter enters the Aquarius constellation along with the Sun moving in to the Aries constellation, the Kumbh festival is held at Haridwar.
“When Jupiter moves in to Leo, the Kumbh festival is held at Nasik on the banks of Godavari.
“In the event of Jupiter moving in to Leo and the Sun entering Aries, the Kumbh festival is held at Ujjain.
“When Jupiter enters Libra and the Sun and the Moon remain together on Kartik Amavasya (8th month of Hindu year) then also the Kumbh Festival is held at Ujjain.
“When Jupiter, the Sun, and the Moon enter Cancer on lunar conjunction (Amavasya), then also the Kumbh Festival is held on the banks of river Godavari.
“When Jupiter enters the Aries constellation and the Sun and the Moon are in Capricorn constellation, the Kumbh festival is held at Prayagraj on the new moon day.
“When the Sun is in Capricorn and Jupiter moves into Taurus, the Kumbh festival is held at Prayagraj.”
(https://www.kumbh.gov.in/en/astrologicalsignificance)
In Hindu astrology, the positions of the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter play a pivotal role in identifying the auspicious dates including those of the Kumbh Melas. Each of these celestial bodies is associated with specific spiritual and religious meanings, influencing the energy and sanctity of the event.
Not only did our ancients know about planets, but they also knew about nakshatras. In essence (in Western astronomical terms), a nakshatra simply is a constellation. Every nakshatra is divided into four padas (lit. “steps”) related to the Char Dham, a set of four pilgrimage sites in India. Thus, our pilgrim centres, our festivals and the biggest of them all, Kumbh Melas are based on astronomical calculations. They are not manipulated or cannot be manipulated like some of the calendars that were invented later. In 1752, England and its colonies skipped 11 days to implement the Gregorian calendar.
Kumbh Mela signifies the Hindu idea of Kaalchakra, which is circular, not linear as the West and Abrahamic religions believe. Because, Kumbh Melas are around for thousands of years, and the stories from Puranas move over thousands of years, and yugas. Bhagwan Krishna tells Arjuna that this is not the first time they are on this battlefield. It has happened earlier too. Sant Tulsidas presents this idea of same events taking place in different places and time frames through the enchanting story of Kakabhushundi.
Kumbh Melas are a festival to celebrate our civilisation. People from all over Bharat converge on the Kumbh Mela, without any marketing, without any advertisement, without any invitation on a pre-ordained day. In ancient times, there were no broadcasting media. It was a decentralised civilisation. Still every citizen from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Kutch to Guwahati was aware of the dates of the Kumbh Mela. Whether rich or poor, tribal or city dweller or rural folks, nothing stopped you from celebrating this human gathering based on celestial play. There was and there is no caste based segregation in the festivities. Democratic in very sense. Kumbh Mela is the biggest illustration of geographical and cultural unity of Bharat with people converging on Kumbh Mela from across Bharat.
As an Islamic ruler, Akbar, perhaps, understood the risk of awakening of this essential unity, hence he banned the Panchkosi Parikrama in Prayagraj, around 450 years ago. It has been restarted by the UP government in 2019, after long efforts of the saint community and the administration. The Parikrama was earlier started by some saints but had to be discontinued in 1993, with an excuse of lack of management.
One can say, Kumbh Melas were the national level conferences of scholars, sages, scientists, and gurus of different sampradayas. Even the normally unseen mendicants, rishis, munis descended on Kumbh Melas. This is how different philosophies, new discoveries, new knowledge reached different geographies of the vast nation called Bharatvarsh. I do not think any other civilisation had this kind of massive periodical congregations which was pre-determined by a Panchaang (calendar) based on solar and lunar calculations. This is how our knowledge could not be fully destroyed by the invaders and technologies spread across Bharat. This is the best example of Republic of Faith, pluralism accepted as way of life.
People talk about the huge funds the state governments spend on these Kumbh Melas. They do not talk about the massive boost to the local economy when lakhs, nowadays crores converge on that pilgrimage centre. They do not understand the significance of millions of Bharatiyas converging as one society, one nation with one guiding Dharma—Hindu or Sanatan.
I have attended Kumbh Melas in all the four holy places—Traymbakeshwar Nashik, Ujjain, Haridwar and will be visiting Prayag this time. However, I distinctly recall being taken to Ujjain Kumbh by my parents where we stayed for about four days. This experience was very different from just going to a Kumbh for a day and taking a dip. We moved from one pandal to another, one akhada to another, listening to scholarly discourses, bhajans and witnessing yagnas. One could enter any place, one could have prasad in any pandal or akhada. Thus, spiritualism seeped every atom of your body. This way, you soak in the atmosphere; you soak in the knowledge if you are interested, or just roam around in a blissful state. You watch grand processions, and take the holy dip. Yes, Kumbh Mela is not a mere “bathing festival.”
Kumbh Melas reflect the timelessness of our traditions and cultures, our grassroots spiritual democracy. They hark back on our scientific temper, sometimes cloaked in the guise of ritualism. They are integral vision of One Nation. You feel the throbbing heart of the “Virat Purush” described so vividly in the Gita, a vision of one effulgent Bharatiya society with millions of eyes, hands, feet. There is much deeper meaning to the world’s greatest spectacle of spiritual renewal.
* Ratan Sharda is the author of Conflict Resolution the RSS Way; RSS 360: Demystifying Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; The Sangh & Swaraj: Role of RSS in Freedom Struggle, among others.