Sanjeev Kumar Sharma
The ongoing spiritual congregation at the city of Prayagraj (erstwhile Allahabad) in Uttar Pradesh is proving to be the biggest ever on this earth with lakhs of pilgrims pouring in everyday through air, railways and road transport to reach the ‘Land of Gods’ for a holy dip at the confluence of three pious rivers- the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati.
The millennia-old Kumbh Mela in the year 2025 is special in itself and has been christened as ‘Maha Kumbh’ for it is happening after 12 Kumbhs.
Scholars say that the Kumbh fair comes after 12 years and after every 12 Kumbhs, that is after 144 years, there comes a Maha Kumbh while the Ardh Kumbh (half Kumbh) comes after every 6 years.
The Maha Kumbh of 2025 started on January 13 and will go on till February 26 when the festival of Shiv Ratri will be celebrated across the world.
There were four Shahi Snans (special baths) at Maha Kumbh on January 13, 14, 19 and on February 3 while the Parv Snans will be there till February 26 and it is believed that taking a dip in the confluence of three rivers, popular at Trevani Sangam, during these days invokes special blessings leading one to salvation.
In this Kumbh the social media has played an exciting role in popularising the event. Every-day we come across unique things about this pilgrimage which reach us through hundreds of posts on Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and other social media platforms showing saints of different hues and lakhs of pilgrims taking dip in the Sangam.
The critics and others like them were shocked to witness India managing such a historic congregation on the earth in a brilliant way.
So far this pilgrimage has been performed by many prominent people like the PM Modi, the President of India and many ministers and others in the country apart from many bigwigs from many of the foreign countries while saints from many English and other countries at the Maha Kumbh remained a big attraction for the pilgrims and the media.
As one prepares to leave for the Maha Kumbh pilgrimage, one faces the problem of train reservations despite the fact that the authorities have pressed many special trains into service for this pilgrimage. The SRTC buses shuttling pilgrims from Jammu to Prayagraj are available in Jammu every day at 5 pm but a prior booking before 2-3 days is required to ensure a seat. Many people from Jammu reach New Delhi by train and from there they proceed further by buses which are easily available at Anand Vihar ISBT in New Delhi.
En-route one listens worrying murmurs from co-travellers which claim that buses are stopped 100 kms before Prayagraj due to the heavy rush of pilgrims and there are long traffic jams of more than 50 kms but on moving ahead such things prove to be just lies.
Maha Kumbh is a pious pilgrimage which everyone should perform for attaining purity of soul and physical body. A dip in the holy water of confluence purifies the physical body and relieves one of all the tiredness of the arduous journey and one feels relieved of many mental burdens.
For the holy dip, the pilgrims have to trek not less than 10-15 kms carrying bags containing clothes and other things needed for the pilgrimage and this makes them tired. This physical tiredness or stress is nothing but something which most of the people don’t have in their normal lives and this is believed to be a form of ‘Tapp’ which remains an integral part of any pilgrimage.
At Amarnath pilgrimage in Kashmir Himalayas, one has to trek through mountainous paths to reach the holy cave for paying obeisance and similar remains the case of holy pilgrimage of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji in Katra which also leaves the pilgrims tired due to long walks and this tiredness is again Tapp which has to be undergone for a successful pilgrimage.
As a human body is a combination of a soul and a physical body, the Tapp during the pilgrimage purifies the soul while the dip in the holy waters of the confluence purifies the physical body and this accomplishes the purpose of the pilgrimage at Triveni Sangam.
Many people believe that a dip in the confluence during Maha Kumbh may relieve them of all their sins.
Though the pilgrimage of Maha Kumbh at Prayagrag has the main attraction of holy Sangam (confluence) of three pious rivers but an in-depth thinking shows that confluence of the three holy rivers is just symbolic as one may easily witness more confluences at this place of pilgrimage.
Convergence of the people of varied hues, looks, ideologies, mentalities, nature, visions, behaviours, backgrounds, tastes and so on with their pious souls at a place, makes the place very spectacular, rare and unique.
Similarly, there is the confluence of Saints of all hues ranging from the saffron-robed seers to the naked ash-smeared Nagas and Naths and many others offering best wishes to the devotees and showering blessings over those touching their feet and some of there seers even remain busy in meditation and still many others serving the pilgrims with food at the Langars.
This historic and unprecedented human gathering on earth is also a convergence of faith, belief, culture, humanity and many more aspects integral to the Sanatan.
The organiser UP Government with full support from the Government of India has brilliantly provided all the necessary services for the event to ensure that the visiting pilgrims face no problem while performing the pilgrimage.
Apart from the concerned authorities, some private players are also offering services to the pilgrims while the Saints have also erected Pandals containing temporary tent arrangements for themselves and also for the pilgrims visiting them at the Maha Kumbh and they provide free of cost accommodation at these tents to the visiting pilgrims along with blankets and other required items. They have also put in place 24 hours free Langars in these Pandals where they serve delicious meals to all.
The Maha Kumbh area presents sprawling fields with tents and the area is divided into various sectors with facilities of restaurants, shops, makeshift toilets, free Langars, clinics etc along the river Ganga over which there are fixed many pontoon bridges to cross the river at various places. This congregation area with all the facilities is named as Maha Kumbh Nagar.
While most of the visiting pilgrims prefer staying at the Pandals of seers totally free of cost or at other places at nominal charges, there are facilities in place for the well off pilgrims in luxurious tents and at other similar places.
The very word ‘Kumbh’ means pot and it refers to the pot containing Amrit (a spiritual drink which on consuming blesses one with eternity). This pot is believed to have been found during Sagar Manthan after which there erupted a battle between demons and Devtas (pious spiritual souls) to get the Kumbh containing Amrit. During this battle, few drops of Amrit splashed out of the pot and fell at four places on earth-Prayagraj, Nasik, Haridwar and Ujjain and Kumbh is organised at these places.
It is also believed that the planetary positioning in the sky during the days of Maha Kumbh is similar to what it was there during the time of Sagar Manthan and this also remains another reason behind making the event worth ‘not to be missed’.
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