It is: 9:37 PM - July 24, 2008 at the Kumbha Mela.

Allahabad – 19^th January, 2001

The Kumbh Mela Today – A Festival for All
By Tony Fernandes

There used to be a time when the sandbanks of the Ganga here in Allahabad were made available free to groups and congregations to set up camp. Not anymore. Today the government controls the land and allocation of plots is done in the best Indian tradition, by prioritizing the powerful and influential at the expense of the weak and voiceless. The common folk as usual come out on top only in the categories of the exploited and the fleeced. On the surface, the Kumbh Mela seems to have become a place where Politics and Commerce interact to maximize reward and profit. The millions of India’s poor, who make this event what it is, are perhaps beginning to wake up to the additional burden they have to carry here. They may be ignorant but they are not stupid. Maybe that’s one reason why the numbers expected here are not adding up. More likely, those in power prefer to conjure up huge numbers because with projections of large numbers comes extra cash. The Kumbh Mela has now become big business, a massive administrative exercise expending billions of rupees and thousands of tons of subsidized food.

While its current outer surface has become a jarring caricature, its Spiritual significance continues to draw in pilgrims by the millions. In today’s world the bureaucratic organizations which have been created by the high priests of organized religion have become festering sores on the body of the central truths they were meant to convey. They feed on the simple innocent faith of ordinary people. They seem to be caught up in the glamor of materialism. This contrast between the material sophistication of those at the top and the simplicity of the vast majority of those at the bottom can be seen more clearly here at the Kumbh Mela than anywhere else on Earth. The beauty, grace, sense of tolerance and magnanimity of the mass that is India also comes through here at the mela. Perhaps this added inward sense of connection is due in part to the sanctity this place has been endowed with over the millennia and the piety and innocent faith the millions of India’s children continue to bring with them to this hallowed place.

One holy man, in an interview, said that there was probably only one genuine Sadhu in every thousand here at the mela. Did he count himself among the anointed? Of course! Was he among the one in a thousand? Who knows? Religious leaders are busy fighting over status and the order in which their group, or akahara, should march in the procession to the Sangam. For leaders who are already enveloped in maya (illusion), this is perfect ground. Here you have everything - the crowds, the media, the politicians, religion, holy rivers, money and most important of all – blind faith. The same crowds will be far more critical when on their home ground, but here in this place and time, they suspend their critical judgment and open up to faith alone. This is where Hinduism’s sectarian leaders do some of their best work. The maha-mandaleshwaras (senior preachers) and mahants (sect leaders) of the 13 Akaharas (sects) that make up the Akahara Parishad (an umbrella organization that speaks for several sects) use this opportunity to consolidate their individual positions by shows of power, wealth and charisma. Some of them have targeted, among other things, the international tour operator Cox & Kings for staining the mela area with their luxurious commercial presence (more on this in a separate story). And so the show goes on. Yesterday, four dharmacharyas, in a ritual ceremony, were made maha-mandeleshwaras. Let us hope that the focus now moves to more spiritual pursuits.

Have you ever noticed that the state of your mind dictates the kind of experiences you have? When you are angry, you come across situations that make you angrier. When you are obsessed with money and power you will find yourself in situations where competition and hierarchy play a large part in your life. At the mela, we have the opportunity to get churned if we so choose. If your focus is mainly internal, you will find that you are able to climb higher and further in this energized environment. The same principle will hold true for those whose focus is external, material and worldly. Wherever you dig, you will be able to dig a deeper hole here, so if you decide to dig make sure you dig in the right place. Events like the Kumbh Mela are harbingers of a future reality. It is like going into a time warp and tasting what being in a particular field of consciousness is like. Those of us who are fortunate to find ourselves at the Kumbh Mela must learn to focus ever more on our higher spiritual goals whilst in the midst of the noise and grandeur of the events here.

This place is full of maya, full of illusion, full of false trails everywhere. You will see more Sadhus and Mahatmas here in one place than in your whole lifetime. Holy men are everywhere. How do I know which one to spend some time with? It is far more difficult than deciding which mobile phone or tariff option to go for. Here there are no leaflets or comparative tables. There is so much choice in our world today. We must learn to be discerning. We must learn to know what we truly want and need. To do this effectively, we must learn to understand ourselves better. It is difficult to make informed decisions in a world that is changing rapidly. To cope with this, governments and businesses have introduced even more computer-to-computer interfaces where people used to be before. Yes, things are moving fast. Good! The best of times are yet to come. We have the internal technology to adapt and excel if we learn to fall back on our faculty of intuition. Through intuition, we can link up to a vast database of information and begin to make spontaneous decisions, which are congruent with our life’s purpose. However, getting there may require a major change in outlook and behavior.

The Kumbh Mela is a mirror of our society - it is India and the world in miniature. Here, all of our deepest yearnings, for freedom, for salvation, for peace, for liberation, for happiness, for less pain and more joy – find expression through the millions of individuals who have struggled for days to be here. How, you may ask, can it possibly be described as a microcosm of the world without there being representatives here of the various peoples, cultures and religions? All of the world’s religions and cultures are expressive systems, which have taken root in particular forms in specific places in order to give meaning and purpose to life. They are avenues, which have been developed through the centuries to signpost the road back home to the source. As an expression of consciousness, each individual from whichever race, religion or cultural tradition - is essentially the same. We are all human beings sharing the same body of consciousness.

The goings on here at the Kumbh Mela happen on the level of consciousness and, behind that, on the level of spirit. Beneath the surface of this event, in thousands of tents, sages, saints and devotees are praying, meditating, chanting, reading the holy scriptures and volunteering to serve in various capacities. There is a dynamo here generating the power of goodness through selflessness. "Thank the leper and the beggar and the poor and the unfortunate" said Vivekananda, "for they give us the opportunity to exercise our compassion and generosity." All of the goodness, as well as the selfishness, generated in these special circumstances here at the mela will find resonance and expression in particular places globally in the months and years ahead. Is it possible to show connections between events elsewhere on earth in the future and this MahaKumbh of 2001? Yes! But we will have to move into a whole new way of thinking and embrace a whole new paradigm to do it. For those who live within the current scientific and social reality, these speculations are not worth a riposte. What could the signposts for such a paradigm be? This could perhaps be explored further in a future dispatch, with contributions from readers. 

Please address your comments to the Zenzibar Salon where a discussion area is set up for the Kumbh Mela.

Thank you, with love and respect.

At your service,

Tony Fernandes

Tony Fernandes is Zenzibar's correspondent at Kumbh Mela 2001 in Allahabad, India. You can contact him at tony@zenzibar.com