Prashant Panjiar

Kumbh Mela

The first time I went to the Kumbh Mela was in 2001, while on assignment for Outlook Magazine. Coming after 144 years and at the beginning of a new millennium that Mahakumbh at Allahabad, or Prayag as it is now called, was a highly anticipated one. The idea of an ancient almost primordial mega event in a ‘futuristic’ connected global world was extremely seductive. I came back from the festival with many images that lived up to the image of it being the ‘greatest show on the earth’. But being a non-believer, I was also confused by my attraction on a personal level for what was essentially a religious event. To seek an answer I have been going back to subsequent Kumbh Melas at Prayag in 2007, 2013 and 2019 – never on assignment, always photographing for myself, with no brief or expectation of outcomes.

The Kumbh Mela is all about scale. It is a massive enterprise where on the most auspicious days millions of people converge to bathe in the holy waters of the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Sarswati rivers, to wash away their sins and free themselves from the cycle of death and re-birth. A tented city springs up on the banks of the river, the local government sets up a special administration, a massive police force is deployed, extra trains and buses are run. Pilgrims, religious leaders, shopkeepers, merchants and wandering minstrels stream in from all directions.

The majority of the pilgrims who come to the Kumbh Mela are rural poor people who walk miles, carrying their meager belongings on their heads and shoulders, crossing the pontoon bridges, clutching on to a family member’s shawl or sari to avoid getting separated and lost. They reach the river bank, camp out in the bitter cold night; cook their simple meals on cow-dung cake flames; prepared to bathe in the holy waters at the crack of dawn at the most auspicious moment. Observing them I learnt that for all its craziness, complexity and enormity, the Kumbh is actually about the simplicity of faith. On reaching the river, after navigating through the crush of millions, the ordinary pilgrim’s final prayer is deeply personal and quietly powerful. You don’t have to be a Hindu, or even a Believer, to be moved by the beauty of this communion.

I hope to publish the work as a book before the next Kumbh Mela in 2025.

Legend has it that when the Gods were under a curse that made them weak, Brahma the Creator advised them to retrieve the Amrit, the elixir of immortality, from the ocean. The Gods sought the help of the Demons and together they churned the ocean to extract the Amrit. As Dhanwantari, the divine healer appeared carrying the Kumbh, the pot of Amrit, a battle ensued between the Gods and Demons over its possession. During this battle drops of Amrit fell at four different places – Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. Since then the Kumbh Mela is held in each of these places in a twelve-year rotating cycle. The most important is the Mahakumbh Mela, held every twelfth year. The Ardh Kumbh Mela, the fair held every six years, is next in importance. The celebration at Prayag has come to acquire the most significance since it is held at the Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Hindus believe that bathing here during the Kumbh Mela washes away their sins and ends the cycle of rebirth and death.

Next Artist