The Kumbh Mela ground is so big it has taken us a few days to explore it. Here are a few more pictures from the mela.
Picture 1: At 5.30am the river side is at it's busiest with thousands of pilgrims crowding the banks for an early morning dip. They needn't worry about setting up their alarms to awake for the occasion as music starts blasting out of the loudspeakers all around the Kumbh Mela at 5am rendering even the best earplugs useless. The bathers all have their own rituals that they perform depending on their sect or religious intensity. Most bathers, often in water waist deep, drop their knees and dip their heads into the water several times in order to cleanse their souls. Inbetween dips they whisper the names of relatives and loved ones that are not present in order to cleanse their souls too. Some collect water in bottles that they will take back for their relatives to perform rites and cleansing with the auspicious waters. Others, typically women, light a tea light on a paper oragami boat filled with flowers and send it on the river as a prayer for the long life of their spouses. Saddhu's have their own particular rituals: One blew a conch shell several times before entering the water.
Picture 2: The Kumbh Mela camp stretches off into the distance as far as the eye can see. The camp is shrouded in wood fire smoke in the evening and early morning as a million cooking fires fill the air with acrid smoke. The smoke stings the eyes whether one is sitting within the tent or without.
Picture 3 and 4: A woman is engrossed in prayer at an even more holier place than the banks of the Ganges at the Kumbh Mela. The confluence of the rivers: Ganges, Jamna and Sarasvati provides the holiest place and which quite handily is only 100 metres from the shore of the Kumbh Mela camp. But due to the shear number of visitors we had to walk four kilometres in order to find a boat to take us out to the confluence. Fortunately the river is very shallow at the confluence allowing Indians, who are almost all non-swimmers, to partake in the rituals safely.
Picture 5: 'Swinging Saddhu'. This holy man has not sat or layed down in over five years. When he is at rest he leans on this platform like swing. Many saddhus believe in some sort of sacrifice or penance in order test their strength and determination. The control of mind over body, they believe, is essential in order to reach a higher condition.
Picture 6: New digember (naked saddhus covered in ash) recruits go through a difficult initiation process that stretches months before they can be ordained. They must sit there completely naked for at least a month until they are completely comfortable being naked. The recruits have five gurus who they must obey without questioning. They too will be subjected to penance in order to strengthen their mind and resolve in order to go beyond what was previously possible.
Picture 1: At 5.30am the river side is at it's busiest with thousands of pilgrims crowding the banks for an early morning dip. They needn't worry about setting up their alarms to awake for the occasion as music starts blasting out of the loudspeakers all around the Kumbh Mela at 5am rendering even the best earplugs useless. The bathers all have their own rituals that they perform depending on their sect or religious intensity. Most bathers, often in water waist deep, drop their knees and dip their heads into the water several times in order to cleanse their souls. Inbetween dips they whisper the names of relatives and loved ones that are not present in order to cleanse their souls too. Some collect water in bottles that they will take back for their relatives to perform rites and cleansing with the auspicious waters. Others, typically women, light a tea light on a paper oragami boat filled with flowers and send it on the river as a prayer for the long life of their spouses. Saddhu's have their own particular rituals: One blew a conch shell several times before entering the water.
Picture 2: The Kumbh Mela camp stretches off into the distance as far as the eye can see. The camp is shrouded in wood fire smoke in the evening and early morning as a million cooking fires fill the air with acrid smoke. The smoke stings the eyes whether one is sitting within the tent or without.
Picture 3 and 4: A woman is engrossed in prayer at an even more holier place than the banks of the Ganges at the Kumbh Mela. The confluence of the rivers: Ganges, Jamna and Sarasvati provides the holiest place and which quite handily is only 100 metres from the shore of the Kumbh Mela camp. But due to the shear number of visitors we had to walk four kilometres in order to find a boat to take us out to the confluence. Fortunately the river is very shallow at the confluence allowing Indians, who are almost all non-swimmers, to partake in the rituals safely.
Picture 5: 'Swinging Saddhu'. This holy man has not sat or layed down in over five years. When he is at rest he leans on this platform like swing. Many saddhus believe in some sort of sacrifice or penance in order test their strength and determination. The control of mind over body, they believe, is essential in order to reach a higher condition.
Picture 6: New digember (naked saddhus covered in ash) recruits go through a difficult initiation process that stretches months before they can be ordained. They must sit there completely naked for at least a month until they are completely comfortable being naked. The recruits have five gurus who they must obey without questioning. They too will be subjected to penance in order to strengthen their mind and resolve in order to go beyond what was previously possible.
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