Kumbh Mela 2010 - Haridwar

Haridwar is one the 7 Mokshapuri’s in India and is also the entry point to the four Dhams (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri) in Himalayas. No wonder scriptures refer to this place as the gateway to Hari.

Scriptures also refer to Haridwar as one among the four sites where drops of the elixir of immortality, Amrit, accidentally spilled over from the pitcher after the churning of the ocean of milk. These four spots – Ujjain, Haridwar, Nasik, and Allahabad – have today become places, where the Kumbha Mela is celebrated once every 3 years in any of these 4 places and after a period of 12 years. Astrologically the movement of Jupiter into Kumbh rasi marks Kumbh Mela at Haridwar.

Millions of pilgrims, devotees, and tourists congregate from all over the world to celebrate the event, some to watch the event, and some to wash their sins.

Who would want to miss such a rare opportunity to take a dip in Ganges to cleanse their soul and get rid of sins with just a dip in Ganges? Is it a laundromat for the soiled souls? :-)

I reached the city the day prior to Kumbh Mela and by then vehicular traffic to city was closed. The taxi driver dropped me outside the city and I set out on journey exploring the city from its limits lugging a backpack and a shoulder bag. Cars, busses and vans almost formed a wall around the city and absence of vehicle traffic also made the walk into the city an easy one.

Scores of pilgrims were walking into the holy city and there was Ganges on one side with overflowing people and tents and other makeshift housing on the other side. Thick bamboo and strong casuarinas poles were erected near the bathing ghats to contain the crowd, might and power of the crowd.

Every street had barricades at the beginning and at the end to prevent any vehicle movement. Alternate streets were made one-way to handle the movement of people in and out of the bathing ghat. For the first time I saw pedestrians given the full street to walk and there was none honking from the back or side, but though there were a few elbowing here. Orderliness in India? Do rules and regulations work in India, well they did!

There were newborns, toddlers, youngsters, and even oldies in their 80s and 90s walking around with their walking sticks in the streets of Haridwar. Sea of humanity would be an understatement. Do we call this faith? or do we call this collective faith or a walk with a purpose? I was surprised to see that we didn’t have to share space with animals. Where did the cattle in the streets of Haridwar vanish?

Some were carrying their bags like a pot of gold, some carrying it like a pot of water and some wheeling their suitcases on the tar road, did I say karma bags?

Some clad in white, some in saffron, some in tracks, some in dhotis, some in shorts and tees. Some speaking in Hindi, some in Tamil, some in Bengali, some in Malayalam, some in German, but were here earn some brownie points.

After a trek of 5kms I finally made it to my hotel room, checked in, changed into comfortable clothing and set out to explore the city. By then the every inch of space on the street was taken and from the hotel terrace the place looked like a beehive buzzing with activity. It is interesting and incredible India.

From the terrace I watched the entire parade of all the Sadhus around the town on horses, elephants and some on decorated floats. They call this “Peshwa”. There was music and dance to entertain the public and sweets were distributed to keep the kids happy and high on sugar. I have been to the Big Apple to watch the ball drop on New Year eve, been to Mardi Gras but I must tell you the mood in Haridwar was just electrifying and enthralling. More than 100 million in a small town?

It would have been a spectacle to watch all this from above, watch men, women and children move around like ants in search of salvation. I’m sure God is just sitting there with a tub of popcorn and enjoying the show. :-)

Finally I had my chance to go down the steps at Har-Ki-Pauri and felt like a tea bag emptying the flavor that I acquired during the journey to Haridwar. The water was ice cold, and I was hoping the afternoon sun and the huge congregation should considerably raise the temperature of the water. But Ganges was always remained cold. I wondered how these fishes survived and made cold waters their home.

There were no changing rooms in the ghat, women were wiggling like fishes out of water to get back into their dry clothes. Nobody seemed to have the time to look around when they have come to scrub the dirty soul.

My dip in Ganges was done, but I had another mission to accomplish. It was the Nanga Babas.
Heard of Nanga babas? They are exotic and endangered species, who live in the mountain caves, wander in their birthday suits, and cover their body with ash. They come down only during such auspicious days to take dip in the Ganges and they head back to their world. Am I making them sound like angles? There are interesting things about them. Apparently some of them smoke pot and they say it is a spectacle to watch them get high and randy. Is it Maha Kumbh or Mardi Gras?

I called up my friends in the print media to find out if any of their colleagues were around to cover Kumbh. Can there be a better way to explore the city with people who spot news for a living? And sometimes tagging along the media guy can get you access to all corners and crevices and bathing ghats. Did I make them sounds like roaches?

Well we teamed up and went around exploring the boundaries and underbelly of this city. Interestingly dhoop and dope are so easily available in this city... :-) I was up all night wandering the streets of Haridwar like a low life, while my media friend was busy smelling for news. We stopped every half hour for Chai. And it was 2 am when we finally made it back to the hotel. My feet were tired and my lungs clogged after filtering the polluted and dusty air in the streets of Haridwar. I needed a few hours of rest before the plunge and play.

The build up to the event and the finale is always a spectacle to watch. Don’t you agree? Well how long can you just be an audience, don’t we all want to plunge in and play?

We were up by 4 am and there was a light breeze, and the streets were even noisier. We hurried to join the lines that made it to the ghat didn’t want to miss the bathe on Somavati Amavasya day. The CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) managing the lines informed us to hurry up since the ghats were made exclusive for the sadhus after 8 am. Another dip and some more sin washed away, I felt light and fresh.

We got into dry clothes and found a neat spot to stand and catch a glimpse of the finale. At around 8.00am the public were asked to leave the ghats and the lines to the ghats were stopped. Police were were on the PA system regulating traffic.

I didn’t realize the skyline of Haridwar was going to change so soon. The blue skyline was soon going to be repainted. When the Sadhus finally descended for a dip there was saffron every where. It was bright and brilliant and it appeared like 1000 suns came together.

The last lap of the Kumbh is the arrival of Nanga babas. Eyelids failed to close and camera lenses were ready to zoom and capture them in action. Not in tens, but in hundreds they arrived and took control of the Ganges flowing through Hari ki pauri. Never seen so many naked sadhus in one place. Even sadhus come in shapes and sizes. The ash smeared on their body finally dissolved and turned the flowing Ganges grey for a moment. They let their matted hair loose and washed like women who appeared in Liril and Lux advertisement. For a second I had to ask if it was Hamam or Haridwar! I stood behind the barricade and looked at them like lions in the zoo.

All religions refer to karma or action with various names, but none other than Hinduism closes the loop of karma with reincarnation. Interestingly none of us know if we are reaping the seeds of karma sown in this birth or from one of our earlier births. Though Karma and rebirth has been the black box but nevertheless our religion gives us an opportunity to earn brownie points.
Another journey began…bags were back on their head and they also had bottles and cans filled with Ganga Jal for their near and dear ones back home. Am I making it sound like some detergent or antispectic? Well Hinduism claims it is an antiseptic to the soul.

There is always something mystical about Haridwar. National Geographic cannot recreate this and you will have to be a part of it and if you were not a part of this journey wait for another 12 years.
Save the date now!
2022.
Come back with more sins to wash!