On January 13, 2025 (Posh-Purnima) Monday, the world’s biggest congregation, the Mahakumbh, was inaugurated in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) in UP. This is the biggest gathering of humanity of this century showcasing various aspects of Dharma, spirituality, tradition, crowd management, discourses, travel and tourism. More than 40 crores (400 million) people from different corners of India and the rest of the world are expected to visit Prayagraj, the centre of the Mahakumbh on the confluence of three sacred rivers of India, the Ganga, the Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati. The six-week long huge extravaganza that will generate a 2 to 4 lakh crore rupees (approximately 25 to 50 billion US Dollars) impact on the economy of the nation will conclude on 26th February 2025 on the day of Mahashivratri.
Human congregations throughout the world are a normal affair. People assemble in different parts of the world on various occasions for different reasons viz, political, religious, social, sports, cultural, educational and entertainment as well. In this connection, the assemblance of people in Olympics for sports, Rio de Janeiro Carnival in Brazil which attracts millions of people each year, Haj pilgrimage in Mecca and Madina which is attended by around 25 lakh people from across the world, gigantic Shia religious gathering in Iraq and the Christian Mass assemblance in Philippines are recognised as the biggest human congregations. But the Mahakumbh surpasses them all in many ways, primarily because of the number of the people attending the biggest gathering on the planet.
The earliest reference of the Kumbh is found in the epic of Mahabharata. Elaborate historical and documentary evidences are available which give details about the organisation of Kumbh-mela during the periods of emperors like Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragupta Vikramaditya, Harshvardhan and Ahalya Bai Holkar. People used to assemble in Ujjain (MP), Nasik-Trimbakeshwar (Mah), Haridwar (Uttarakhand) and Prayagraj (UP) on the defined dates in connection with the Kumbh as per the astrological and astronomical permutations and combinations. The tradition remains unabated till date. The four important pilgrimage centres are situated on the banks of the sacred rivers Narmada, Godavari, Ganga and the confluence of the Triveni- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. These four venues are connected with the philosophical belief of Hindu scriptures that the nectar (amrit) achieved got sprinkled on these four specific places after the ‘Dev-Asur sangram’ (the war between the demons and gods).
People from various parts of the country and also from the world participate in the Kumbh for their growth in the spiritual, social, cultural, economic, religious and knowledge oriented fields. Mahakumbh is also recognised as the biggest platform for discourses, discussions and debates on spirituality, various aspects of Dharma, social and cultural issues, religious traditions and also on determining the path for the nation in future. Lakhs of people converge on the Kumbh venue from various parts of the world in their spiritual and religious quest on a daily basis. People from the Kashmir valley also participated in the Kumbh-mela with great interest and devotion for the last thousands of years.
It would be great to discuss the Kashmir connection to the Kumbh-festival here briefly. But before that it also needs to be clarified that the Kashmir valley, due to its peculiar geographic situation and conditions, had developed its own tradition of Prayag and Kumbh in the valley itself. The confluence of rivers Vitasta (Jehlum) and Sindh at Shadipur (Sumbal) is recognised as the Prayag (Sangam) of Kashmir where Kumbh-mela is organised every twelve years. Unfortunately, the forced mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits in 1989-90 diluted this tradition to a large extent. The Kashmir valley had also its own Shakti-peethas established in almost all the districts and tehsils of the valley, so were the Shiv-sthalis rooted in every nook and corner of the valley, Amarnath cave in the district of Anantnag has been the most popular throughout the world for the last thousands of years.
Inspite of the difficult travel facilities available during the winter season, the organised groups of devotees and others from Kashmir valley interested in the Kumbh-mela would visit various designated centres throughout the country and participate in the grand festival with great enthusiasm. This author is a witness to such an experience when we participated in the Kumbh-festival at Prayagraj in January-1979. It was indeed a great experience of life to be a part of the important delegation from Kashmir.
In fact, I was the youngest member of the delegation that was led by the vatern Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi under the banner of Shribhat Ashram. The other distinguished members of the delegation included among others Tika lal Taploo, Amarnath Ganjoo, Smt. and Sh. Moti Lal Zadoo ‘Pushkar’, Jia Lal Kaul, Pushkarnath Karnail, Agnishekhar, Sushil Wattal, Omkar Nath Raina, Niranjan Nath Kaul, Shiban Kishen Bhat and Pushkar Nath. The enthusiastic delegation stayed in the camp-town on the banks of the Triveni for two weeks and participated in various activities in the Kumbh-mela including doing volunteer services in the festival.
In addition to the above, the delegation also participated in the second World Hindu Conference held at the venue under the banner of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The three-day conference was attended by lakhs of people who were also a part of the Kumbh. It was addressed by the Dalai Lama, Maharana of Mewar, Balasaheb Deoras-RSS Chief, Shankaracharyas, Swami Satyamitranand Giri, Justice (retd.) Shiv Nath Katju, Ashok Singal, Dr. Karan Singh, Rani Gaidinliu of Nagaland and Mata Vijay Raj Sindhya. The organisers of the event gave a golden opportunity to two senior members of the Kashmir delegation to make a presentation in the historic world conference on Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandit issue. Amarnath Vaishnavi and Amarnath Ganjoo made lucid presentations on the socio-political scenario of Kashmir from the grand stage of the conference before lakhs of people and the world leaders on the stage.
There was also an impressive stall organised by the Bhagwan GopiNath Ji Ashram, Srinagar at the camp site. It was inaugurated by Dr Karan Singh and also visited by thousands of people for the full one month tenure of the festival. Books about Bhagwan GopiNath Ji were distributed there. Avdoot Bhagwan Ram of Varanasi also visited the stall-camp and spoke on the occasion. It created a great impact on the people present there about Kashmir.
The well-settled old Kashmiri Pandits in Prayagraj invited the Kashmir delegation for an intimate discussion on the issue of Kashmir. The discussions were also attended by Justice Bakshi and Justice Katju. As a result of the enthralling debate, a new all-India platform came into being with the name of All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS). The organisers had made nice arrangements for the delegation and the families of Kashmiri Pandits living in Prayagraj gave a standing ovation to the Kashmir delegation and showered their love and affection on it. They served Kahwa, dry fruits and dinner to the delegation and also felicitated each member of the delegation on the occasion.
The organisers of the meeting made arrangements for the delegation to visit Rishi Bhardwaj Ashram, museum, Anand Bhawan and important ancient temples in the city. Justice Katju who was also the Working President of the VHP assured that he would visit Kashmir to take stock of the situation therein which he did when he attended a three-day conference organised by the Hindu Yuvak Forum in Srinagar in July-1985. This author had the privilege to host him in the Srinagar Conference along with Sushil Modi who was the then all-India General Secretary of the ABVP. This time also in 2025, a delegation of the Kashmiri Pandits is camping at the Prayagraj on the occasion of the important congregation.
Mahakumbh is always once a life opportunity for a human being. The Mahakumbh in Prayagraj this time is taking place after a gap of 144 years. All efforts are being made to achieve the target of unprecedented participation of 50 crore people in the event. Keeping in view the variety of elaborate facilities and arrangements provided by the governments to the pilgrims visiting the Mahakumbh, it seems that all past records would be broken this time. It is estimated that 1 to 2 crore people took a dip in Triveni on the inaugural day on January 13, 2025. After a long period of time, on January 14, 2025 (Makar-Sankranti), the solar and lunar months of the Hindu almanac began on the same day, which is considered very auspicious for the nation and humanity at large.
The great socio-cultural festival known as the Mahakumbh-2025 beacons all irrespective of any sort of barriers like caste, colour, language, region, nationality and even religion to visit the mega festival of the world at Prayagraj, have a life experience of it and enjoy that for whole of the life. This is an ideal opportunity not only for the ‘Amrit-snan’ in the big ‘mela’ but also for enjoying the Nectar of the Mahakumbh on this special and auspicious occasion for which huge representations are flocking toward Prayagraj in UP.
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