"It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination."
Mark Twain after witnessing Kumbh mela in 1895
Amongst Hindus, theĀ soul is believed to pass through different lives ~ the quality of reincarnation depends upon individual's karma created in previous life. The highest goal is to break out of that cycle of rebirthĀ and reach salvation from the earthly life filled with suffering and desires.
According to one set of Hindu holy books, the Puranas: "Those who bathe in the bright waters of the Ganga where they meet the dark waters of the Yamuna during the month of Magh [roughly January/February] will not be reborn, even in thousands of years.ā
Therefore, millions of worshippers from even the most remote villages of India make the long, arduous journey, ofen spending days on trains, buses or on foot ~ all for a few moments of bathing at Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers:Ā Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati. The water at this particular spot is believed to cleanse sins and allow bathers to liberate from the cycle of reincarnation, attaining moksha.
For us, the journey to Kumbh Mela startedĀ in Rishikesh, where we had just completed the 500 hours Yoga Teacher Trainings. With a brief stop in Goa, where we were blessed to be in the presence of Sadhguru, one of the most renowned and loved Hindu mystics, we made our way to Varanasi. Headed to Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj accompanied by thousands of other pilgrims, our excitement was mixed with anticipation of the unknown.
Name of the festival (mela) derives from ancient Hindu mythology, when Lord Vishnu released drops of immortality nectar (carried in a pitcher ~Ā kumbh) in four places ā Nashik, Prayagraj, Ujjain and Haridwar in India. Those four places celebrate Kumbh Mela nowadays, rotating roughly every three years, while the exact dates are based on a distinct set of astrological positions of the Sun, the Moon and Jupiter.
Days when these positions are fully occupied are considered the holiest and most auspicious, gathering more bathers than ever ā up to 30 million on one single day. We had a chance to bathe in the holy Sangam together with H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji from Parmarth Niketan Ashram, one of the oldest and highly renowned ashrams from Rishikesh, India.
From the muddy shores of Ganga, we boarded wooden boats together with countless other pilgrims and were taken to the Sangam ā the exact place where the holy rivers meet and the water is not too deep. Total chaos caused by excitement and sacred atmosphere helped when immersing ourselves, head to toe in the cold waters, three times, as perĀ the auspicious tradition.
source: Eastern Eye
In 2017 Kumbh Mela was added to theĀ UNESCOĀ List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.Ā This tradition dating back over a millennia is billed as the world's largest gathering of humanity ~ the only one that can be seen from space.
The festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, where the Ganges and the Yamuna meet, has become the largest one. Kumbh takes place there every 12 years, and every 6 years there is a "half-kumbh", ardha-mela ~ however, in 2019's half-kumbh over 200 millions of people visited Prayagraj and bathed in the holy Sangam, compared to 70 million who attended the full one six years earlier.
women drying their saris, kumbh 1953 by James Burke
women drying their saris, February 2019
To accommodate pilgrims, a vast tent city is built around the delta in Prayagraj, with incredible infrastructure. Kumbh Mela is also an enormous market, meeting place and centre of learning, where people are invited to attend spiritual lectures andĀ obtainĀ blessings from some most-revered gurus. We stayed with Parmarth Niketan, where very basic tents and temporary rooms were provided, together with traditional indian "ashram" food, daily lectures, poojas and Ganga aarti.
The atmosphere at Kumbh can be truly overwhelming ~ constant echoes of hundreds of musical performances, voices roaring over loudspeekers, neverending chants and prayers, the din of millions of people, cows, vehicles... Holy sadhus, ascetics and naga babas with long, thick dreadlocks march past you, covered in white ash and carrying shells, wailing for alms.
Other saints sit in quiet repose, surrounded by their disciples ar simply observing their surroundings, inviting you to sit with them. They usually lead life of isolation, live in remote places or Himalayan caves and descend to mingle with other humans only for the occasion of Kumbh Mela. Some of them recognize their exotic appeal for foreigners and happily pose for pictures, asking for a donation.
As soon as our senses managed to adjust to this absolutely unique and one-of-a-kind joyous, bewildering atmosphere, we foundĀ ourselves in disbelief, realizing the scale of Kumbh Mela, its significance and rarity. Raw intensity and almost incomprehensible sacral nature of the celebration's rites left us speechless then and impressed for many months after.
Crossing the river was a beautiful experience each and every time, strolling across crowded and dusty street markets, engaging ourselves into conversations with vendors, capturing the beauty of reverence, people, trying to catch some vibe and uniqueness of this astounding gathering.
This is the energy we aimĀ to harness in chapati&chai collections, representing cultures, people, events and places that have inspiredĀ us and share that with you through our meditation malas.Ā Scouring the planet for knowledge, inspiration and powerful combination of wearable high vibration energy sources for chapati&chai ā we explore some of the largest and most exotic stone markets in the world, channeling inspiration for use in our collections while finding hidden treasures of a distant culture and time.
