'Kumbha Mela' a quick dip in Hindu spirituality

by Nirmala Carvalho

Ujjain (AsiaNews) - India's grandest spiritual extravaganza, the "Kumbha Mela", (or 'Pot pilgrimage' in English) draws spiritual seekers, investors and entrepreneurs to the largest religious gathering in the world in Ujjain, Central India from April 5 to May 4th. The ancient ritual takes place every 12 years in the state of Madhya Pradesh when, according to astrological signs, the Sun is in Aries and Jupiter moves through Simha rash (Leo). Millions of participants and spectators line the banks where the Ganges River convenes with the Yamuna and Saraswati Rivers, as naked ash-covered sadhus (ascetic Hindu holy men) race to bathe in muddied waters.

This year's Kumbha boasts the Government's chief minister, Uma Bharati, (herself a 'sadhvi'a Hindu religious woman who wears only a saffron covering) who is spending more than 2,500,000,000 rupees in a record 100 days in a bid to turn the Kumbha Mela into the biggest and more than 10 million people will flow in and out of Ujjain, making it the largest pilgrimage site in the world. Thus, besides being a whirlpool of spirituality, the Kumbha Mela is a marketing and advertising paradise. There are any number of swamis (Hindu mystic teachers), spiritualists and others with dramatic advertisements of their spiritual expertise, looking for an audience. Many television channels air paid commercials promoting their own brand of spiritual remedies for every kind of ill afflicting humankind. Newly built air-conditioned halls in Ujjain invite devotees to listen to a "maharaj"(a Hindu prince). Elaborately decorated tents with every conceivable five-star amenity pronounce the power of a guru and his authority in the material world. A half-naked sadhu reportedly produced a cheque of 50,000,000 rubles in a local bank, sending the staff into a tizzy. It is estimated that sadhus alone have pumped 1 billion rupees into the economy of the town as they relax in their designer tents.

This year, elaborate arrangements have been made as more than 10 million people will visit the area. Footbridges for pedestrians have been constructed, along with new roads and ghats (broad flights of steps used by bathers to reach the river). Toilets, bridges, pipelines and power stations have been built in preparation for the biggest crowd, expected on the favored date for the ritual bath- May 4, a lunar eclipse day, when the Kumbha ends.

Among the colorful cross-section of spiritual seekers attracted by the festival are thousands of 'flower children', popularly known as 'hippies," who are camping in Ujjain for the Kumbha Mela, distinguished by their saffron robes, long hair, and their chillum-smoking habit (a chillum is a kind pipe mainly used to smoke narcotics). Such 'rainbow club' people are seen all over Ujjain, chanting Sanskrit mantras, mouthing philosophy and quoting verses from the Bhagwad Gita. One explained that previously many of them did hard drugs, but now they are on a spiritual high. The hippies wandering the town are mainly from European countries and are distinct from tourists, as most are asylum seekers who have been disillusioned by structured forms of religion. They are at home with the lifestyles of the sadhus, eating simple vegetarian food and even sleeping out in the open, adopting- at least for the duration of the Kumbha Mela -the spirituality of Hindu holy men.

It came as a surprise that the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) announced the "Bishops visit Kumbha Mela Site at Ujjain". A Bishop of the Standing Committee in Bombay politely declined to comment on the authenticity of the statement this morning, mentioning that people in Delhi manage the website. The Bishop just returned from the CBCI Executive and Standing Committee Meetings in Bangalore and stated that he would look into the matter. He informed that there was a possibility that some Bishops may visit the site, but it was not likely that they would do so in their official capacity.

The Mela's origins are mythical: after gods and demons churned the oceans and produced 'amrit', the nectar of immortality and the ambrosia of life, a few drops spilled from the pot and dropped on Shipra in Ujjain, now a shallow river. A dip in the Shipra during Kumbha Mela is believed to be the quickest route to nirvana (paradise). The ritual communal bath is the major event of the festival, though activities including religious discussions, devotional singing, and mass feedings of holy men and women and the poor are also held.