The Kumbh-- A Pilgrim's Progress

                         

A gust of cold wind. A stir. And I am awake…to the Kumbh consciousness, as lying awake a little longer in the makeshift camp of Noida Sai Sansthan I tried to connect to various sounds wafting from numerous camps set up at the Mahakumbh 2001 at Allahabad. A few yards away, from the camp of Shirdi Sai Sansthan was the refrain “Om Shri Sai Nathaya Namah”. Opposite our camp. from Shri Ram Sharanam Sansthan was the chorus from ‘Amrit Vani’. From another camp rose the bhajan “Kabhi Ram banke”. A little away, a camp was resounding with “Kabir Dohe”. From a far distance, perhaps an Akhara was resonating with ‘Omkar’ mantra. And dominating all these and many other muffled overtones was the nonstop announcements from the Bhoole Bhatke camp on the Triveni Ghat.

I turned. Through the crack on the corner of the roof, I peered out at the night sky. The crescent moon, in an assortment of twinkling stars, was smiling down. Instantaneously I remembered it was Vasant Panchmi, one of the five Shahi Snan celebrations Kumbh Mela was famous for. I jerked up from bed. It was exact 4.00 AM on my watch. Inside the tent all other inmates were blissfully asleep under thick layers of blankets, securely insulated from the onslaughts of wind and sounds. I quietly woke up my wife lying by and within minutes, we were out on the primrose path to Sangam. To my surprise, there was already a huge march of shadowy figures to which we merged and headed for cherished dip.

It took us nearly an hour to reach the sanctum sanctorum, the purest of the pure spots on earth—the Triveni Sangam, where the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati converged to form the confluence. And what an ambience! There before us and the cracking millions lay the glorious expanse of the confluence showering the nectar from a perfectly auspicious alignment of celestial constellations. As I gazed and gazed at the divine-human panorama, the long awaited climax unfolded itself. In a slow cinematic motion the eastern sky lighted up, the smoggy patches breaking into strips of crimson radiance. We hurried through the crowd and stepped into the holy water. It was a moment of a life time. As the first crack of dawn sent the Ganga aflame, a million red-gold sparkles searing the dancing ripples into the horizon, we took the cherished dip. It was then that the eastern sky spectacularly burst forth the iridescent orb—Hiranya Garbha. Instantaneously all the banks of the Triveni reverberated  with “Har Har Gange” as I stood awe-struck in waist- deep water, offering salutation to the primordial lord of energy reciting “Gange cha Ymuneschaiba Narmade Sindhu Kaveri”

Just about the time, at a little distance from the bank, there was a stir in the approaching crowd and in no time there were numerous bands of sadhus, , some saffron clad, some stark naked, pot- bellied, their heads matted with locks, bodies smeared in ash, colourful garlands hanging from their necks. As they charged into the Ganga, a series of chanting “Har Har Gange” and “Ganga maiya ki jai” rent the air. After the holy dip, when the sadhus returned to the bank, they were greeted with traditional worship with blowing of conches, beating of drums and blaring of trumpets. While most of these sadhus left on the back of animals, elephants, horses, camels etc., a few rode palanquins, while others walked away on bare foot. It was an out of the world experience, as I stood transfixed, first letting in the sights and sounds and then, in closed eyes, absorbing the awesome feelings in the remotest recesses of my soul.

The aftermath feeling of the Triveni bath was also quite subliming and blissful. We felt hearteningly gratified about the popular belief that a holy dip at the Kumbh bestows immense benefits equivalent to those of a thousand yajnas. Legend also has it that every 144 years, the major power centres of the universe experience a unique cosmic confluence at the Sangam which causes  unprecedented impact on the fate of mankind. Besides there is also a philosophical insight about the Kumbh. As later in the camp discourse Guruji explained the Kumbh did not merely represent a physical confluence of the three rivers or heavenly bodies but a yogic unity of Kundalini within every individual which is the fountainhead of infinite power impacting tremendous possibilities in his spiritual ascent

But whatever the truth, thanks to Guruji, the two days we spent with him at the Mahakumbh-2001, Allahabad were decidedly the happiest and best days of our lives.

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