Key points
- 400 million people are expected to attend the festival
- Around 150,000 toilets have been built
- Will run from January 13 to February 26
ISLAMABAD: Organisers of India’s Kumbh Mela have prepared to host a staggering 400 million devotees at the six-week Hindu festival that starts Monday and is expected to be the largest human gathering in history, amid increasing criticism of how India treats its non-Hindu citizens.
According to AFP, pilgrims will come from across India and beyond to take part in elaborate rituals, prayers and religious processions with elephants, as well as horse-back parades and chariots.
The mass Hindu mela, or fair, runs from January 13 to February 26 on the river banks of Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Setting up a country
Organisers say the scale of preparations for the Kumbh Mela is akin to setting up a country from scratch.
Around 150,000 toilets have been built along with community kitchens that can each feed up to 50,000 people at a time.
This year, authorities are preparing for up to 400 million people — more than the combined population of the United States and Canada.
Mela authorities and police have set up a network of “Lost and Found” centres as well as a special Kumbh phone application to help lost pilgrims reunite with their families.
“Festival of the sacred pitcher”
The Kumbh Mela, the “festival of the sacred pitcher”, is held at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers.
A central part of the rituals is bathing in the holy rivers, with the dawn charge often led by naked, ash-smeared monks.
Hindus believe that those who immerse themselves in the waters cleanse themselves of sin, breaking free from the cycle of rebirth and ultimately attaining salvation.
Many pilgrims embrace a life of simplicity during the festival — vowing non-violence, celibacy and the offering of alms — and focusing on prayer and meditation.
Hindu mythology
The festival is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher, or kumbh, containing the nectar of immortality.
During the battle, a cosmic fight called “Samudra Manthan”, or the “churning of the ocean”, four drops of nectar were spilt.
One landed at Prayagraj, where the Kumbh is held every 12 years.
The other drops fell in Nashik, Ujjain and Haridwar, cities where smaller Kumbh festivals are held in intervening years.
The mythological battle is mentioned in the Rig Veda, an ancient sacred canonical Hindu text.
Key dates
Key dates include January 13, the start of the mela that coincides with the full moon.
One of the most popular days is January 29, Mauni Amavasya, when celestial alignments are said to be ideal for purifying waters.
Celebrations culminate on February 26, Maha Shivaratri, the final holy bathing day.
Treatment of minorities
India has increasingly been criticised for constricting religious space for its non-Hindu minorities especially Muslims and Christians and the treatment of their places of worship. According to a press statement issued on Thursday, Maryam Mastoor, a research fellow at Islamabad-based Institute of Regional Studies raised critical questions regarding the grave political disenfranchisement of religious minorities in India, Congress Party’s commitment to secularism, and the future of secular face of the country when secular parties are increasingly falling for a “Soft Hindutva” approach. Mastoor also questioned the BJP’s reluctance to conduct a countrywide caste census, pointing out such a census could directly harm privileges and opportunities that a chunk of upper castes has been enjoying under the present structure.
