Chapter 6 – Kumbh 2019

Kumbh mela is known as one of the very significant events in the hindu religion. A dip in the holy water washes away all your sins. I was very privileged to be one of the participants in such an auspicious occasion. The actual kumbh is held every 12 years and 2019 kumbh was an ardh kumbh mela which is hosted every 4 years. We had a 10 hours bus ride from Vanarasi to Prayagraj. There were around 90 buses which departed from the PBD town for the kumbh mela. We had a few stops in between but at last we arrived at the tent city which was set up on the banks of the Ganga river. The name speaks. There whole city was set up with tents incuding hosiptal, police station, fire station and accomodations...all set up with tents just for the Kumbh.

The setup was totally amazing and we had a grand welcome. There was live entertainment all around; showcasing dances, music, art and costumes from different parts of India. We had a quick lunch before departing for a holy dip. Our bus took us to the jetty from where we set sail on the boats decorated with fresh marigolds. We were all taken to the other side of the river and our group was divided into 2 smaller groups with tour guides. Amulya – my tour guide informed me that the whole area had been closed for locals for today as the PBD participants were coming. The locals were lined up around the temporary fence monitored by police. This was done for our ease of movements and security since we were the VIPs of the day.

First stop was at the Akshay vat which according to the hindu religion

is considered one of the oldest trees in the world. Then was a visit to the patal puri temple. This is the place where Lord Ram performed the final rituals of his father. All these attractions are located inside the castle fort which was built by the Mughal king Akbar. His wife was a hindu princess and the king had built a temple within the palace for her and his hindu subjects. Our guide informed us that no one was allowed inside the fort premises and it was under high security until recently the government opened this area for public access. Then we were guided to the bade Hanuman ji temple and the guide once again informed that this is the only temple which shows Hanuman Ji in a sleeping position. We were lucky to enter the temple at the time of the arti as the loud sound of drum beats filled the atmosphere. Unfortunately I had left my phone in the bus so I was unable to take pictures or videos of the area. But either way most of the places were restricted for pictures and where possible I used my fellow group member’s phones to click a few shots.

Next was a visit to saraswati kubh. The location had a very beautiful marble Murti of Maa Sarawati. The place where the three holy rivers; Ganga, Yamuna and Sarastwai meet is known as the triveni Sangam and we were at the actual location. However the saraswati river has a mystery of its own. There are many different interpretations which people have of the saraswati river. Some say it has disappeared and now only a kumbh (well) remains, some say it is still flowing underground but my favorite interpretation is that sarawati also known as knowledge comes from within a person hence taking a holy dip at the meeting point of Ganga and Yamuna and attaining the wisdom through knowledge from your guru on the bank truly means that you have taken a holy dip in the Triveni Sangam. In this way the sarawati does not refer to as the river flowing but to the knowledge that is obtained from within. (Credit for this interpretation goes to Swami Ji who enlightened me abit about Kumbh before my tour to India).

Later we arrived at the place where hundreds of people were taking a dip in the holy waters. The water was freezing cold and since I had left all my belongings in the bus including my change and with the fact that we were running out of time, I just washed my face, hands and foot in the water throwing a few drops over my head and drinking few sips of the holy water. I also filled a bottle so I could take the holy water back home and share with my loved ones. We departed from the place as the sun was setting down. Straight away to the train station where our sleeper train was waiting for us. We had an overnight 12 hours train journey before we reached Delhi the next morning. We all had a bunk each to sleep for the night and dinner and breakfast was all served in the moving train as we made our way to the capital.