We are currently in the middle of one of the biggest Hindu celebrations Kumbh Mela, a festival that last occurred 12 years ago. It is expected that 400 million people are taking part this year, which would make it the largest religious gathering in the world. So, what is Kumbh Mela and why is it so important?
The main festival is celebrated in four spots in India. The celebrations are aligned to the placements of the sun, the moon and Jupiter. The four places where the celebrations take place are considered as Holy locations in Hindu religion.
Following Hindu belief, these sites are said to be the places where drops of eternal life were spilled by the Gods. This is from the legend of Samudra Manthan or the churning of the ocean, which is described in ancient scripts. This Kumbh Mela celebration is especially important as it is the Maha Kumbh Mela, which is only celebrated every 144 years.
This Kumbh Mela celebration is especially important as it is the Maha Kumbh Mela, which is only celebrated every 144 years.
This religious celebration is seen as the festival of festivals and is considered one of the more sacred pilgrimages in the religion. The main celebration is held in the North Indian city of Prayagraj, where it is said one of the drops of eternal life fell. It takes place at the meeting point of three rivers: The Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. During this celebration many events and rituals are set to take place. Attendants will line up for a chance to bath themselves in the river. The water is said to wash away sins and cure disease. In addition to this, there is set to be group prayers and blessings, lectures about the scriptures but also food and entertainment.
The largest gathering of people is expected to be on the 29th of January where it is thought nearly 60 million people will clean themselves in the holy rivers.
The largest gathering of people is expected to be on the 29th of January where it is thought nearly 60 million people will clean themselves in the holy rivers. The event will last until the 26th of February, and for many this celebration will be seen as a symbol of Hindu unity.
However, this year there has been new practices and security put in place to make sure everyone at the festival stays safe. For starters there will be water quality monitoring systems in the rivers to keep track of any water pollution. There will be doctors and a police force on site to handle any problems. However, the biggest change is there will be high use of cameras and drones to monitor people and make sure nothing gets out of hand. Around £600 million has been spent in the planning of this event. This event will give better insight on how technology can be used for crowd control and keeping people safe.
Around £600 million has been spent in the planning of this event.
This celebration is set to be a once in a lifetime occurrence for those following the Hindu religion. Despite the lack of media attention surrounding the celebration, the importance of this event to the Hindu community and other comminities should not be understated.
