Mahakumbh (A Spiritual Journey)

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Foreword

To try and communicate in words what I experienced as the Mela Officer, entrusted by the State Government with the task of organizing Mahakumbh 2001, seems almost impossible. And yet, that is precisely what I am about to venture: Express my feelings of those Challenge-filled months, attempt to depict the pendulum-like swing between apprehension and euphoria. As a Mela officer, I found that making arrangements for this great event was like preparing for an epic challenge-a Maha Yajna of sorts.

In the ensuing pages, I have tried to portray the Kumbh as I saw it, in its multi-faceted dimensions. I have been helped very generously in my efforts by my wife Leena, who having been a literature student, is more adept at words than I am. In a nutshell, this is as much her book as it is mine.

Back Of The Book

For centuries, devout Indian have congregated at the Sangam in Allahabad for a holy dip during the Kumbh festival. But Mahakumbh 2001 can be described as a historic event with a rare celestial planetary configuration occurring on this occasion. Millions from India's countryside and urban metropolises, as also 100, 000 foreigners, contributed in their own ways in making the many splendoured Mela an international event. The author, who was the Mela Officer, provides a first hand account and take us on a memorable journey narrating the joys and sorrows of organising the first Mahakumbh festival of the new millennium.

Jiwesh Nandan, of the Indian Administrative Service, was the Mela Officer at Mahakumbh 2001, entrusted with the task of planning, supervising and organising the great Indian religious festival. He is presently the District Magistrate of Lucknow.