Maha Kumbh Mela (A Spiritual Journey)

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Dr Ruchi Singh has written books on Kumbh Mela (2013, 2019) and on Hinduism (2016). ICSSR (Indian Council for Social Science Research) recognised her as an Expert on Kumbh Mela for its study on Kumbh 2019, and she contributed to ICSSR's book on Kumbh. She is also the co-author of the book Magnificence of Kumbh, published by UP govt. (2019), and listed as a Religious Studies Expert by them.

Hailing from Prayagraj, Dr Ruchi Singh, an alumnus of St Mary's Convent, is a topper in History from the University of Allahabad, and UGC NET qualified. She has done her PhD on the Sacred Complex of Prayag and UGC Post doctoral study on Buddhism. Ruchi has taught History at the University of Hyderabad, presented Papers in National and Inter National Conferences, and made 2 important historical discoveries.

Ruchi is an ardent wild lifer, and her book 'Call of the Jungle Journey of an IFS officer' (2023) is a National best seller.

She is a Masters Swimming Champion.

Maha Kumbh Mela is the biggest religious congregation in the World. This book delves into the historicity of the Kumbh Mela and the various rites and rituals associated with it. It analyses the importance of Pilgrimage in Hinduism and throws light on the Akharas, Naga sanyasis, Akshayvat, temples of Prayagraj. Prayag and Buddhism and Allahabad Pillar Inscription. It provides special insight on Maha Kumbh 2025 and has a Chapter on Kumbh Memoirs.

The Maha Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in 2025 is going to be the greatest ever spectacle on earth. It is estimated that during the period January 13 to February 26, when the Mela would be held, about 400 million people from different parts of the country and even abroad will visit Prayagraj to see and partake in this magnificent bathing festival at the confluence of the three holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the (now invisible) Saraswati. It would amount to the total populations of France, Germany, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Poland coming to one place during a specified period.

Such a massive movement of humanity would require tremendous organizational effort. A temporary city will be carved out over an area of 4,000 hectares, which will be divided into 25 sectors for administrative purposes There will be accommodation facilities on a very large scale for the visiting pilgrims requiring about 1,60,000 tents to be set up; about 10,000 sanitary workers to clean 1,50,000 toilets; 1,259 km long pipelines to ensure water supply in different parts of the tent city; 2 new electric sub-stations and 66 new transformers for 67,000 LED and 2,000 solar hybrid street lights to light up the Mela area, and an Integrated Command and Control Centre to monitor all movements and activities over the entire city with the help of 2,750 CCTVs. All means of transport would be utilized for the arrival and departure of the pilgrims while more than 50,000 security forces personnel would be deployed to maintain law and order. Wi-Fi hotspots will cover all important locations. There would be seamless integration of modern technology with ancient practices.

The tradition of a bathing festival in the month of Magh is thousands of years old. The earliest written reference to what was perhaps a Kumbh Mela is from the time of King Harshavardhana, when the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang recorded his observations during his journey across India (630-640 AD). Shankaracharya, the great philosopher of the eighth century, is believed to have to have streamlined the organization of this great festival.

According to Hindu mythology, the gods and the demons at one time decided to churn the ocean. A mountain was used as the churning rod and a huge snake as the churning rope. Fourteen jewels are believed to have emerged from the ocean. These were shared between the gods and the demons. However, there was quarrel over who would take amrita (nectar of immortality). The gods, as the legend goes, flew away with the pitcher (or Kumbh) containing amrit, but they were chased by the demons. During the pursuit, drops of amrit fell at four places Prayagraj, Ujjain, Haridwar and Nasik, which thereby became sacred. The Kumbh Mela is held at these four places by rotation. The Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj is, however, considered more sacred because it has Sangam or the confluence of the three rivers. Besides, Lord Brahma is believed to have performed yajna here to create the universe. According to the Skanda Purana, a person who takes bath during the Kumbh Mela achieves moksha or is liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

Dr. Ruchi Singh has written an interesting account of the Maha Kumbh Mela which a visitor/pilgrim would find quite educative. It gives all the background information about the Kumbh Mela, the mythological references, and throws light on the various religious practices observed by devotees during the bathing festival. There is also an enlightening account of the Akshayavat and a detailed description of the holy temples of Prayagraj. The importance of auspicious days for the holy snan has been explained lucidly.

May all those who come to Prayagraj during the period of the Maha Kumbh Mela be blessed by the gods and may they all experience the diversity, the ancient wisdom and the resilience of Hinduism a religion which gave the message of universal brotherhood Vasudhava Kutumbakam - to the world

It is two hours past midnight just now. I close my eyes and am transported back into time and space. My earliest memories of Kumbh Mela are that of a six. seven year old child, huddled in a boat along with my parents and brothers, shivering with cold, and blowing whiffs of 'smoke' into the air. It would be the time for the first auspicious Snan (ritual bath) of the Magh Mela, the Makarsankranti day, which would generally be around 14th January, when the night temperature in Allahabad, present day Prayagraj, would be around 2° or 3°C. We would go for a dip in the holy Sangam (confluence of the three rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and invisible Saraswati). And invariably, the most auspicious time (muhurtam) for the ritual bath would be between 3 am and 4 am, (now I wonder why?) and so dutifully we would tag along with our parents, virtuously muttering Ganga mayya ki jai, (Mother Ganga be praised), while chilled to the bone. We would board the boat at the Saraswati Ghat (Jetty or Pier) on the river Yamuna, which would be covered by a cloud of mist, and always be awed by the boatman, who would tell us that the water was so deep that uncountable number of elephants, standing one on top of the other, would drown. (Now I wonder as to why he simply did not tell the depth in feet?)

We would sit still with bated breath till we had crossed the kila ghat i.e. the jetty near the fort. For, the boat man said that every year a few boats sank near the place, and the water was very deep. We would heave a sigh of relief on reaching Sangam, where the boat was tied to a wooden platform, or to another boat, and there the water was only 3-4 ft deep. We would quickly take the holy dip (dubki). Again, the boatman would point at the difference in the temperatures of the water of the two rivers, Ganga and Yamuna, at the place of the confluence or Sangam.

While growing up in Allahabad, or present-day Prayagraj, the Magh and Kumbh Melas were integral parts of our lives. I remember my Nani maternal grandmother, going daily for Ganga snan (ritual bath in the river Ganga), during the whole month of Magh, along with the Kalpawasis. My Dadi, (paternal grandmother), would make generous donations, including a cow, to the Pandas (priests) at Sangam. She was very particular about having the ritual bath or snan at the auspicious muhurtam or time, and I still have scary memories of shivering in a wildly rocking rowing boat, caught in rain and thunder storm, while returning with my family, from the ritual bath at Sangam, at 3 am in the cold January morning.

Childhood memories of the Mela are still vivid in my mind. Though the Mela was spread over a large area on the sandy banks of the rivers Ganga and Yamuna, but while coming from the city to visit the mela Ksetra (or area), one had to cross the bandha or embankment. The view from the top of the bandha was always breathtaking. Scores and scores of tents would be visible in all directions, and the well laid out roads, with iron sleepers, (chequered plates), would be covered with people. In the day time it would be a flurry of movement and colour, in the night time it would be a kaleidoscope of lights. I was always fascinated by the flags of different colours, though mostly saffron, and of various sizes, flying from the tent tops. They belonged to different sadhus (holy men) and Akharas (order of holy men).

The Mela area would be a hubbub of activity. While religious discourses would be going on in some pandals (big tents), philosophical questions would earnestly be discussed in others. Rama Lila from the holy epic Ramayana would be enacted at many places. We would clap with glee, when God Hanuman set afire Lanka, the capital city of the evil King Ravana, with the help of his burning tail, a very popular story from the epic Ramayana. My father would invariably go to Shri Shankaracharya's camp to hear philosophical discourses. There would also be numerous shops and exhibitions show casing handicrafts from different parts of India. Other exhibitions would have informative stalls, on subjects ranging from Agriculture to Health and Hygiene.