Kumba Mela is also known as the "Holy Dip" or "Sacred Bath" at the locations identified as especially sacred along the Holy River Ganges on the most auspicious times during this auspicious period.
Kumba Mela is the ultimate opportunity for salvation and liberty from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth.
It is considered to be the single most important pilgrimage astrologically, spiritually and logistically; a rare event indeed.
This is the prime opportunity to wash away energies/karmas/negativity/sins from the last 12 year cycle and cleanse the way to a pure, light, new 12 year cycle.
[size="5"]The Age of Aquarius:[/size]
Astrologically this event has a special timing. Kumba Mela takes place in years when the planet Jupiter enters Aquarius, and the Sun enters Aries. This combination does not happen every year. These planetary positions occur together only once every 12 years.
Spiritually, the positive energies created at this time actually medicate the river water of the Ganges turning it to nectar on these auspicious days making enormous purification possible.
Logistically, as this event attracts godzillions of people from all over the world wishing to participate in this once every 12 years event, it is no surprise that accommodations in the areas are over loaded, as are most planes, trains and automobiles to even get there.
As the first rays of the sun warm this crisp winter morning, the mystical Kumbh Mela comes to a magnificent start, transforming the long beach of the Ganges into a sea of humanity embracing tourists, pilgrims, scholars and holy men of various religious orders.
Having at its centre ritualistic ablutions in the Ganges to cleanse oneââ¬â¢s soul of sins and attain salvation, the massive festival is expected to draw more than 60 million spiritual seekers from across the world in the ensuing three months. Spread over a sprawling 130km, it extends to Haridwar, Rishikesh, Munikireti and Swarga-shram banks of the river.
With expenditure exceeding Rs 500 crore by the Government, the colossal congregation of people has been prepared for months on end, giving rise to a parallel tent city following its own administration and traffic rules with 140 hectares of camping area, 14,000 toilets, 32 police stations and 36 fire stations.
The Kumbh is being held from January 14 (Makar Sankranti) to April 28 and has eleven bathing dates in between, including the three biggest Shahi Snan (Princely ablution) days of February 12, March 15 and April 14 marked by fantastic religious processions. Astrologically, the festival marks the entry of Jupiter into Aquarius and the Sun into Aries.
There are a few things as powerful as an individualââ¬â¢s faith. And when this faith transcends the frontiers of space and social order to culminate millions of beliefs and the bizarre into an undivided devotion; the consequence is an overwhelming phenomenon that both captivates and confounds. This in essence is the twelve-yearly Kumbh Mela, the biggest sacred gathering on planet Earth that makes a spectacular start in the holy Himalayan town of Haridwar this morning.
Having its roots in the Vedic period, the magnificent confluence of devotees transpires from the ancient legend of Samundra Manthan or the churning of the ocean of milk. As the lore goes, thousands of years ago the Gods and the demons decided to work together for yielding amrit (the nectar of immortality) by churning the Milky Ocean and to share it equally.
However, when Dhanwantari, the divine healer, appeared with the Kumbh (pitcher) containing the nectar in his palms, a great battle ensued between the gods and the devils to wrest the pitcher. The demons absconded with the pot and were chased by the gods. In this celestial war that lasted twelve divine days (equivalent to twelve human years) drops of the nectar spilt at four places ââ¬â- Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. And these places have thus been venerated as the sites of the awe-inspiring Kumbh Mela that has preserved its symbolism and charm ever since.
In lesser-known references,[color="#FF0000"] the origin of the Kumbh Mela has also been traced to the river festivals in which pots of grains were soaked in the waters of the holy rivers and put to seed with the rest of the grain, during the sowing time. The religious carnival has also been regarded as a pre-Aryan fertility ritual for the Kumbh symbolises the Mother Goddess and also the womb, the generative pot[/color].
The grand spectacle of the Kumbh has roused the curiosity of foreign travellers since the ancient times and Huan Tsiang or Xuanzang of China, who lived during the seventh century was the first to recount the fair in his diary. Having visited India during the reign of King Harshvardhana, he described how half a million people had gathered on the banks of the Ganges along with their king, his ministers, scholars, philosophers, and saints. The king distributed enormous quantities of gold, silver, and jewels in charity for winning a place in heaven.
And The Pioneerââ¬â¢s interactions with local veterans revealed that, to quite an extent, this tradition has remained conserved with the affluent pilgrims offering free food and sweets to the poor during the Mela in their aspiration to get nirvana.
The hermits include Urdhwavahurs, who believe in putting the body through severe austerities; arivajakas, who have taken a vow of silence; shirshasins, who stand 24 hours and meditate for hours standing on their heads and kalpvasis, who bathe thrice a day. However, the most fierce and striking of the sadhus who come to the Kumbh are the Nagas (the Naked Ones), the belligerent wing of the sect with their ash smeared stark naked bodies.
ââ¬ÅThey come from their ashrams, monasteries, caves and veritable palaces of marble, gold and glass. They come from Indiaââ¬â¢s vast rural backyard, cities, clearings in dense forests and remote ice-bound heights of the Himalayas. Some come humbly with the meagre belongings of a holy man ââ¬â- the water pot, the fire tongs, a shoulder bag and a blanket. Some come with their retinue of disciples following the guru like a medieval army, armed with tridents, chains, spears and muskets. Then, there are the heads of large monastic orders that arrive to the fanfare of brass bands, and some, well-heeled international gurus come in limousines.ââ¬â¢
Reminiscent of the cholera outbreak during the 1892 Mela at Haridwar, the State this year confronts the challenge of curbing the spread of Swine Flu among the millions of who will throng the pious city. And for the security, it is naturally a concern to control the gargantuan influx of people.
Notwithstanding, one recalls [color="#FF0000"]Mark Twainââ¬â¢s eulogy of The Kumbh, ââ¬ÅIt is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvelous to our kind of people.[/color]ââ¬Â
Quote:Maha Kumbh starts, over 10 lakh take dip in Ganga
pioneer.com
PTI | Haridwar
Braving bone-biting chill, over 10 lakh devotees on Thursday took a holy dip in the freezing waters of the Ganga here heralding the start of the three- month-long Maha Kumbh, the world's largest religious congregation that takes place once in 12 years.
As the sun rose at about 0645 hours, hordes of pilgrims and sadhus, who had lined up along the streets of Haridwar, started their dips at various ghats along the river whose sacred waters they believe will wash away their sins.
The bath taken on Thursday on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti' marks the first of the 11 key dates for holy dips which will fall over the next three months ending April 28. Makar Sankranti, also known as Uttarayan, is a day when the sun starts to move northwards marking the decline of winter.
Men, women and children outnumbered the sadhus, who are expected to throng the temple town only after January 26 as the official entrance of the 'akharas' (Hindu religious orders) will begin then.
The first 'shahi snan' or the royal bath is scheduled for February 12 when akhara chiefs will take the dip. They will be led by ash-smeared Naga sadhus, who are Lord Shiva devotees.
"Over 10 lakh pilgrims have taken bath in the Ganga since early this morning till late afternoon," Chief Mela Officer Anand Bardhan told PTI.
Many foreigners who were seen in the queue also took bath.
"I was in Jaipur where I was told about this mega religious event.I came down to be a part of it," Victor Schendia from Switzerland, who lined up near the main ghat 'Hari Ki Pauri', said.
The roads leading to nearly 300 ghats have a heavy police presence that has turned the Haridwar into a fortress. Barricades have been set up to control the flow of crowds.
The traffic in the city has come to a halt with no vehicles being allowed to ply. "It is something that I always wanted to do. I never got a chance but now I have closed my business till February 12 and have come here with my family.The water is very cold but I am happy that I undertook this journey," Vijai Raj Shankar Sharma, a devotee from Uttar Pradesh, said.
People with folded hands and a prayer on their lips walked along the roads as the ghats echoed with Vedic hymns, bells and conch shells, leaving an enchanting spell.
District administration said their aim is to give at least five minutes to each devotees to take his bath.
The Kumbh mela goes back to the Vedic ages and, according to Hindu mythology, the places where Kumbh is observed are the ones where four drops of 'amrit' (nectar) fell from the 'kumbh' (pot) at the four places when Lord Vishnu's 'vahan' (vehicle) 'Garuda' was escaping from the demons who also wanted the nectar.
Belief is that the river Ganga also acquires certain properties of the nectar during Kumbh.
Instructions about safety arrangements were also given out on the public announcement systems, which have have been set up all across Haridwar town.
"We have kept blankets, boats and even made arrangements for bonfire in case any of the devotee taking the bath suffers from hypothermia. Steps are all in place to ensure that any needy person is taken to the hospital fast," Chief Mela Officer Anand Bardhan told PTI.
Spread over an area of 130 sq km, the Kumbh has been divided into 12 zones and 32 sectors with heavy presence of police personnel.
Thirty-four police stations and 42 makeshift posts have been set up besides the 36 temporary fire stations.
The other key dates for the baths are January 15 (Mauni Amavasya and solar eclipse), January 20 (Basant Panchami), January 30 (Magh Purnima), February 12 (Maha Shivaratri), March 15 (Somvati Amavasya), March 16 (Nvasamvatsar), March 24 (Rama Navami), March 30 (Chaitra Purnima), April 14 (Mesh Sankranti) and April 28 (Baishakh Adimasaha Purnima).
Solar eclipse keeps doors of shrines shut, idols covered 12 hours before with devotees fearing release of negative forces
It was a memorable juxtaposition at the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar on Friday as the festival came to a visible lull during the millenniumââ¬â¢s longest annular eclipse only to witness its resurgence into a spectacular urn of piety and zest in the second half of the day. The rare phenomenon of the auspicious Mauni Amavasya (new moon day) coinciding with the Surya grahan (Solar Eclipse) was regarded as a propitious occurrence; with devotees performing pertinent rituals and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and his wife, Kusumkanta, taking a dip in the Ganges in the wee hours of Friday, before the Sun hid behind the new Moon.
Also, in keeping with tradition, doors of various shrines dotting the river, including those of Goddess Ganga, Lord Vishnu and Shiva at Har-ki-Pauri were shut with the idols covered in Muslin cloth when twelve hours before the onset of the celestial spectacle, the phase of ââ¬Ësootakââ¬â¢ i.e. the release of negative forces commenced and the mesmerising morning-prayer at Har-ki-Pauri was shelved.In Hinduism, it is believed to be an inauspicious period when the atmosphere becomes polluted and the devout ordinarily abstain from rituals. The solar eclipse lasted in Haridwar from 11:58 am to 3:12 pm.
As a natural consequence, as against the fervour with which this largest religious gathering on Earth had begun on Thursday, until the post-eclipse cleansing the ambience was quiet and the ghats (river bank) deserted; with the reverberating sounds of temple bells, conch shells and hymns replaced only by the gurgle of the Ganges, the intermittent public announcements and voices of the thinned strength of pilgrims who chose to bathe in the river despite the eclipse. These primarily included outstation visitors under time constraints to return and the others not believing in the persisting ominous interpretations of eclipses.
Then there were those who meditated and observed havans on the bank to negate the ââ¬Ëevil energiesââ¬â¢.
Albeit refuted by scientists, solar eclipses continue to have negative religious and astrological connotations among Hindus. ââ¬ÅSurya grahan (Solar eclipse) engulfs the world in a strong dark energy that activates the vile. However, in what is divine, the special planetary alignment endows the already powerful waters of the Ganges with healing omnipotence. And each one who bathes in the river after the grahan will cleanse germs and malevolent vibes from the body, regardless of his socio-economic class or ethnicity,ââ¬Â discoursed Mukesh Kothari, a priest at Har-ki-Pauri in a conversation with The Pioneer.
And so it was the undivided, unshakeable faith of the millions who swarmed the Ganges for a dip during the post-eclipse auspicious Brahma Muhurta hour - young and old, affluent and impoverished, natives and foreigners. In a remarkable reinvigoration of the spiritual aura that had infused the fair a day before on Makar Sankranti, thousands of ascetic holy men who had spent the morning praying joined in the bathing around 4 pm.
Soon after, the temples opened their doors after cleansing the sanctums with Ganga jal (water from the Ganges) and uncovered the deitiesââ¬â¢ idols.
Amidst tight security, over 500 policemen patrolled the area and detained suspects.
If priests are to be believed, the last time a solar eclipse coincided with the Kumbh was way back in 1914.
[color="#FF0000"]ââ¬ÅI closed my business for a week to be a part of the Kumbh. It is my first time and the experience is simply entrancing and beyond words. All I can say is that this place is feeling divinity on Earth and can make even the strongest atheist have a change of heart. I am very lucky to be hereââ¬Â beamed Ravi Kapoor from Delhi.[/color]
For the multitude of pilgrims, the happening was an extraordinary time for wishes and deliverance as they prayed for myriad desires, be it riches, peace or good spouses.
Setting a lofty example that in the eyes of god everybody is equal, and therefore VIPs should not expect protocol at religious places, especially till Kumbh Mela continues, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, along with his wife Kusum Kanta Pokhriyal, came Haridwar without security and took a bath as a common man.
Nishank and his wife Kusum Kanta Pokhriyal took a dip in Brahmakund, Haridwar on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya and solar eclipse, on Friday.
Before people could recognise him Nishank left the venue without disturbing normal movement of pilgrims in view of Kumbh Mela. Nishank reached Haridwar in a private vehicle at 4am without any security. However, when security personnel noticed Nishak, they rush to provide him protection but the Chief Minister refused the same saying he had come as an ordinary pilgrim.
After taking the holy dip, the Chief Minister visited important places to get the firsthand experience of the security preparedness.
Nishank came for the holy bath without any prior information. He went to Har-Ki-Pauri and other bathing ghats as well. Interestingly, while looking at the arrangements, Chief Minister was bare foot and so were all others with him. He also talked to the pilgrims about the facilities and preparations. Along with Chief Minister were his Additional Secretary Deepam Seth and CO Traffic Shweta Choubey.
