It is a festival which has been going on for at least 1500 years and probably much longer. The earliest record of the Kumbh Mela is from the writings of Xuanzang who visited in 629 CE. But similar festivals are known to have been going on hundreds of years earlier.
It could be the largest ever gathering of humanity in one place as the Maha Kumbh Mela begins today at Sangam in Allahabad. The festival will continue for 55 days and is expected to attract over 70 million and perhaps upto 100 million people this year. It is a little mind-numbing to consider that almost 8% of the entire population of India will be in this one location over the next two months.
The 2001 Maha Kumbh – which was was a once in 144 year event – saw around 60 – 70 million attending with an estimated one million visitors from abroad. On Sunday night it was estimated that around 1.5 million people were already in place in various tent cities around Allahabad. Mark Twain was a visitor in 1895 and wrote:
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.
The Mela tales place at Sangam at the confluence of the three holy rivers; the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. It was here that the Gods spilt a drop of Amrita, the nectar of life and it is by bathing here that one can be washed free of sin (and gain a portion of immortality – though this is not the purpose of the pilgrimage and the rituals). The story goes that the Amrita was contained in a pitcher (Kumbh) over which the gods fought the demons. During the battle which raged across the heavens, the God Vishnu flew away with the Kumbh and in his flight spilt some Amrita in 4 places – Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. The battle between the gods and the demons lasted 12 “divine” days which translates to 12 human years. The location of the Mela is governed by astronomy and astrology. The location depends upon the astrological positions of the Sun and Jupiter and the timing is set by the lunar calendar.
The festivities start today with the ritual procession and bathing of the 13 akharas (sects of Sadhus and ascetics whose existence dates back to 2500 BC). The Naga Sadhus will lead the way. The order in which the 13 akharas participate was fixed during the British Raj (to prevent queue jumping and fighting among the various groups) and continues today. Twenty million people are anticipated on Basant Panchami which falls on February 15th. This year the other particularly auspicious bathing days are January 14th, January 27th, February 10th, February 25th and March 10th.
Times of India: The akharas have been allotted fixed time, ranging from 30 minutes to about an hour depending upon the size of their respective procession, for bathing with routes for going to and returning from Sangam so separated as to ward off possibility of members of rival akharas coming in contact with each other.
The mela administration said it has made elaborate arrangements for devotees who would be flocking to the city over the next 55 days. In fact, around 10-15 lakh pilgrims are already living in Sangam city’s sprawling quarters, day and night. Most of them are in tents, make-shift shelters or with sectoral groups called akharas that are administered by sadhus and mahants.
There are people from virtually every state, with those from rural areas of UP, MP, Gujarat and Maharashtra accounting for the largest numbers. The administration has received applications from more than 100 organizations seeking land to pitch more tents, and their numbers are growing.
The k2p blog 
