The Allahabad Kumbh Mela or Prayag Kumbh Mela, is a
mela, or religious gathering, associated with
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
and held in the city of
Allahabad India, at Prayag, the locality of Allahabad with the
Triveni Sangam
In Hindu tradition, Triveni Sangam is the confluence (Sanskrit: ''sangama'') of three rivers that is also a sacred place, with a bath here said to flush away all of one's sins and free one from the cycle of rebirth.
Triveni Sangam in Allaha ...
—which represents the
confluence of three rivers two of which, the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
and the
Yamuna
The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...
, have objective existence, and one, the
Sarasvati
Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a go ...
is mythical.
The festival is marked by a ritual dip in the waters, but it is also a celebration of community commerce with numerous fairs, education, religious discourses by saints, mass feedings of monks or the poor, and entertainment spectacle.
[, Quote: "The special power of the Kumbha Mela is often said to be due in part to the presence of large numbers of Hindu monks, and many pilgrims seek the darsan (Skt., darsana; auspicious mutual sight) of these holy men. Others listen to religious discourses, participate in devotional singing, engage brahman priests for personal rituals, organize mass feedings of monks or the poor, or merely enjoy the spectacle. Amid this diversity of activities, the ritual bath at the conjunction of time and place is the central event of the Kumbha Mela."] Approximately 50 and 30 million people attended the Allahabad Ardh
Kumbh Mela in 2019 and Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 respectively to bathe in the
holy river Ganges, making them the
largest peaceful gathering events in the world.
The full Kumbh mela is held every 12 years, while an ''ardha'' (half) mela is held after about 6 years at the same site. The 2013 Kumbh mela was the largest religious gathering in the world with almost 120 million visitors. An
Ardh Kumbh Mela was held in early 2019. The next full Kumbh mela is scheduled for 2025. The exact date is based on the
Hindu luni-solar calendar and is determined by the entry of planet
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
in
Taurus
Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to:
* Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign
* Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac
* Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus
* '' Bos tauru ...
zodiac and while the sun and the moon is in
Capricorn.
The Mela is one of the four fairs traditionally recognized as Kumbh Melas. An annual fair, known as ''
Magh Mela'', has been held at Prayag Triveni sangam since ancient times (at least early centuries
CE). The site, its sacredness, bathing pilgrimage and the annual festival is mentioned in the ancient
Purana
Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
s and the epic ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
''. The festival is also mentioned in later era texts such as those by Muslim historians of the Mughal Empire. However, these sources do not use the phrase "Kumbh Mela" for the bathing festival at Allahabad. The earliest mention of a Kumbh Mela at Allahabad occurs only after the mid-19th century in colonial era documents. The Prayagwals (local
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
s of Prayag) are believed to have adopted the 6 year ''kumbha'', the 12-year cycle of the historic Maha Kumbh Mela and annual Magh Mela around this time. Since then, every 12 years, the Magh Mela turns into a Maha Kumbh Mela, and six years after a Kumbh Mela, it is an Ardh Kumbh ("Half Kumbh") or Kumbh Mela.
Dates
The Kumbh Mela at Allahabad is held in the month of
Magh when
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
is in
Aries, and
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
and
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
are in
Capricorn; or Jupiter is in
Taurus
Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to:
* Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign
* Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac
* Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus
* '' Bos tauru ...
, and Sun in Capricorn. However, at times this astrological combination (''Kumbh Yoga'') does not coincide with the month of Magh. In such a case, the mela is still held in Magh. For example, the 1989 Kumbh Mela should have begun in mid-March according to astrological calculations; however, it started in January.
There have been multiple incidences of Hindu astrologers disagreeing over the exact condition that ushers in a mela. As a result, fairs claimed to be Kumbh Melas have been at the same place in successive years. For example, 1941 and 1942 in Allahabad; and again, 1965 and 1966 in Allahabad.
History
According to
Hindu mythology,
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
dropped drops of
amrita
''Amrita'' ( sa, अमृत, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred t ...
(the drink of immortality) at four places, while transporting it in a ''
kumbha
A kumbha ( sa, कुम्भ) is a type of pottery in India. Traditionally, it is made by Kumbhars, also known as ''Prajapati''s.
In the context of Hindu, Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism tra ...
'' (pot). These four places, including Allahabad, are identified as the present-day sites of the Kumbh Mela. The river-side fair at Allahabad is centuries old, but its association with the ''kumbha'' myth and a 12-year old cycle dates back to the 19th century. The priests of Allahabad borrowed these concepts from the
Haridwar Kumbh Mela
The Kumbh Mela at Haridwar is a mela held every 12 years at Haridwar, India. The exact date is determined according to Hindu astrology: the Mela is held when Jupiter is in Aquarius and the Sun enters Aries.
The event possesses deep religious s ...
and applied it to their local Magh Mela, an annual celebration. The Magh Mela probably dates back to the early centuries CE, and has been mentioned in several
Purana
Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
s.
Early records of the Magh Mela
![Ashoka pillar, Allahabad, c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Ashoka_pillar%2C_Allahabad%2C_c.1900.jpg)
The writings of the Chinese traveler
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
(Hiuen Tsang) possibly contain a reference to an ancient version of this fair in 644 CE. Xuanzang mentions that Emperor
Shiladitya
Shiladitya (IAST: Śīlāditya) is the title of a 7th-century Indian king mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hieun Tsang).
Xuanzang mentions him in Fascicle V of ''Dà Táng Xīyù Jì'' (''Great Tang Records on the Wester ...
(identified with
Harsha
Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajy ...
) distributed his wealth among the public once every five years; his treasury was then replenished by his vassals. He describes such a ritual at a site located at the confluence of two rivers, in the kingdom of Po-lo-ye-kia (identified with Prayaga). He also mentions that many hundreds take a bath at the confluence of two rivers, to wash away their sins.
[Buddhist Records of the Western World, Book V](_blank)
by Xuan Zang According to some scholars, this is earliest surviving historical account of the Kumbh Mela or its predecessor. However, Australian researcher Kama Maclean notes that the Xuanzang reference is about an event that happened every 5 years (and not 12 years), and might have been a Buddhist celebration (since, according to Xuanzang, Harsha was a Buddhist emperor).
A common conception, advocated by the
akhara
Akhara or Akhada ( Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, shortened to ''khara'' Hindi: खाड़ा) is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artist ...
s, is that
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...
started the Kumbh Mela at Prayag in the 8th century, to facilitate meeting of holy men from different regions. However, academics doubt the authenticity of this claim.
There is no record of a Kumbh Mela with a 12-year cycle at Prayag before the 19th century. The ''Prayag Mahatmya'' section of the ''
Matsya Purana
The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...
'' states the exalted holiness of Prayag in the Magha month, but does not mention any "Kumbh Mela".
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
's prominent spiritual leader
Chaitanya visited Prayag in 1514, and participated in a bath on the
Makara Sankranti
Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...
. The
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...
source ''
Chaitanya Charitamrita
The ''Chaitanya Charitamrita'' (; bn, চৈতন্যচরিতামৃত, Côitônyôcôritamṛtô), composed by Krishnadasa Kaviraja in 1557, is written in Bengali with a great number of Sanskrit verses in its devotional, poetic cons ...
'' mentions that he visited a Magh Mela (and not a Kumbh Mela). The 16th century ''
Ramcharitmanas
''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, श्रीरामचरितमानस, Rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, based on the ''Ramayana'', and composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). Thi ...
'' of
Tulsidas
Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, but ...
mentions the mela in Allahabad as an annual one, but does not contain any reference to a 12-year cycle. ''Tabaqat-i-Akbari'' (c. 1590s) of
Nizamuddin Ahmad
Khwaja Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad Bakshi (also spelled as Nizam ad-Din Ahmad and Nizam al-Din Ahmad) (born 1551, died 1621/1030 AH) was a Muslim historian of late medieval India. He was son of Muhammad Muqim-i-Harawi. He was Akbar's ''Mir Bakhshi''. His w ...
also mentions that the mela as annual. It states that after the
rabi harvest, Hindus came to the Triveni Sangam in such large numbers that the jungles and the plains were not sufficient to hold them. ''
Ain-i-Akbari'', also from the 16th century, mentions that Allahabad is especially holy in the month of
Magha. ''
Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh
''Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh'' (, "Epitome of History") is a Persian language chronicle written by Sujan Rai in the Mughal Empire of present-day India. It deals with the history of Hindustan (northern Indian subcontinent), and also contains details a ...
'' (c. 1695-1699) uses the term "Kumbh Mela" to describe only the Mela at Haridwar; it only mentions the existence of an annual Mela at Allahabad. ''
Yadgar-i-Bahaduri'' (1834 CE) similarly mentions that the mela at Allahabad is held every winter in Magha, when the sun enters the Capricorn.
The
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
gained control of the Allahabad area after the
Treaty of Allahabad
The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 12 August 1765, between the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, son of the late Emperor Alamgir II, and Robert Clive, of the East India Company, in the aftermath of the Battle of Buxar of 23 October 1764. The ...
in 1765. The early British records contain detailed information about the annual Magh Mela at Allahabad, collected for tax-related and administrative purposes. But none of these records call the mela by the name "Kumbh", nor do they suggest any specific significance (such as larger crowds) to a Mela held every 12th year. In contrast, there are multiple references to the name "Kumbh Mela" as well as a 12-year cycle for the
Haridwar Kumbh Mela
The Kumbh Mela at Haridwar is a mela held every 12 years at Haridwar, India. The exact date is determined according to Hindu astrology: the Mela is held when Jupiter is in Aquarius and the Sun enters Aries.
The event possesses deep religious s ...
. There are several records of applications from Hindu princes seeking tax-free attendance at the Mela at Allahabad. Again, all of these describe the mela as an annual one. Bholanath Chunder (1869) of
Asiatic Society
The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...
also mentions "the especial great mela" at Allahabad as an annual one, held in January.
Company-era Magh Melas
Some of the Company-era Magh Melas include:
1790
A letter from
Scindia
The Scindia dynasty (anglicized from Shinde) is a Hindu Maratha dynasty of maratha origin that ruled the erstwhile State of Gwalior. It had the Patil-ship of Kumberkerrab in Wai. It was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who started as a personal serva ...
praises a Muslim named Mir Muhammad Amjad for rendering good service to Hindu pilgrims from the Deccan. Amjad was an officer of Asaf-ud-daula.
Asaf-ud-Daula, the
Nawab of Awadh
The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishap ...
, greatly reduced the pilgrim tax this year.
1801
The Company outsourced the tax collection at the mela to a native to escape the complexity of the tax system as well as the accusations of profiting from the non-Christian practices.
1806
The Company took over the pilgrim tax collection, and imposed a tax of 1 for anyone who wanted to bathe at the Mela. According to Welsh travel writer
Fanny Parkes
Fanny Parkes or Parks (née Frances Susanna Archer) (1794–1875) was a travel writer from Wales, known for her extensive journals about colonial India, where she lived for 24 years. These are recorded in her memoirs ''Wanderings of a Pilgrim in ...
, the tax was severe: in those days 1 rupee was enough to keep a man "in comfort for one month". Another contemporary source puts the tax imposed by company at 3 and mentions greater expense is incurred in charity and gifts to Brahmins sitting by the river side.
1808
The Company announced waiving of pilgrim taxes for native soldiers wishing to bathe at Allahabad. This move was intended at strengthening their loyalty to the British government.
1812
The Company made arrangements for a "great" congregation of people at the "melah" that had not occurred in 28 years.
1833
Bishunath Singh, the prince of
Rewa
Rewa may refer to:
Places Fiji
* Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji
* Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh
* Rewa Province, Fiji
* Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji
...
, refused to pay tax on the grounds that he did not take a bath. However, the local British Collector sent Rewa a tax bill of 5,490 (a hefty amount in those days), on the basis that he had employed Prayagwals, and people in his retinue had their heads tonsured.
1836
The Raja of
Rewa
Rewa may refer to:
Places Fiji
* Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji
* Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh
* Rewa Province, Fiji
* Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji
...
requested the British to grant a tax exemption for his 5000-strong retinue. The British agreed to grant an exemption only for 1000 people. An angry Raja abandoned his trip to Allahabad.
1840
The British abolished the pilgrim taxes as "a measure calculated to augment the popularity of Government... in these disaffected times". A huge number of people attended the Magh Mela that year. A stampede occurred, in which 2 people were killed and another 2 were injured.
Others
Like the Haridwar mela, the Prayag mela also had a mercantile component, but on a far smaller scale. European traveler Charles James C. Davidson visited the fair twice, and described it in his book ''Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India'' (1843). According to him, the wares put up for sale at the mela were low-value items "usually found in all Indian fairs".
Transformation of the Magh Mela into Kumbh Mela
It is difficult to determine the exact year in which the Magh Mela was first celebrated as a Kumbh Mela. The 1870 fair at Allahabad is the earliest fair that is described as a "Kumbh Mela" by contemporary sources. The previous Kumbh Mela would have been scheduled in 1858; but that year, no fair was held in Allahabad because of disturbances resulting from the
1857 uprising
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...
. Before that, a Kumbh Mela would have been held in 1846, but there are no records to suggest this. In 1874, G. H. M. Ricketts — the Commissioner of Allahabad — wrote that the fair became more sacred every seventh year, and attracted a larger number of pilgrims and merchants. Beyond this, he wrote, the administration had little knowledge of the factors that resulted in increased or decreased attendance at the fair in a given year.
The earliest reference to a Kumbh Mela at Allahabad is from a British report of 1868. In this report, G. H. M. Ricketts (then the Magistrate of Allahabad) discusses the need for sanitation controls at the "Coomb fair" (Kumbh Mela) to be held in 1870. He also mentions that he had witnessed huge crowd at an "Ad Coomb" (Ardh Kumbh) four years earlier. In his report on the 1870 Magh Mela, the Commissioner of Allahabad J. C. Robertson also stated that this year's fair was a "Koombh". This report is also the earliest extant source that mentions a
procession
A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner.
History
Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
of sadhus at Allahabad; this procession occurs only during a Kumbh Mela, and not during a Magh Mela.
Historian Kama Maclean hypothesizes that the 1870 Mela was the first fair at Allahabad to be called a "Kumbh Mela". Historically, the Magh Mela has been an important source of income for the Prayagwal Brahmins of Allahabad. The British attempts to profit from the Mela by imposing a hefty religious tax on the pilgrims brought the Company into direct conflict with the Prayagwals. Even after the Company abolished the pilgrim tax in 1840, it continued to levy taxes on traders and service providers (such as barbers) at the Mela.
The first British reference to the Kumbh Mela in Prayag occurs only in an 1868 report, which mentions the need for increased pilgrimage and sanitation controls at the "Coomb fair" to be held in January 1870. According to Maclean, the Prayagwals coopted the Kumbh legend and brand from Haridwar to the ancient annual Prayag Magh Mela given the socio-political circumstances in the 19th-century.
Christian missionaries attack on Hinduism
The Prayagwals along the general Hindu community disliked the presence of
Christian missionaries at the Mela. Prayagwals objected to and campaigned against the colonial government supported Christian missionaries and officials who treated them and the pilgrims as "ignorant co-religionists" and who aggressively tried to convert the Hindu pilgrims to a Christian sect.
According to Maclean, the missionaries distributed literature – printed in Indian languages – at the large pilgrimage gathering of Hindus at Allahabad. These attacked the Hindu "devotional practices", "Rama and Lachmad
ic, the idolatry and Hindu rituals. Some of the missionary literature accused the Prayag pilgrimage as "mere superstition" and "not even sanctioned in the higher sacred books of the Hindus".
The Prayagwals and other Hindus found this offensive. They argued – "powerfully" states Maclean – that Hindus were not given the freedom under the British government to enter Christian premises, set up camps, preach and distribute their religious material to Christians near their churches or criticize Christianity on Christian festivals. In contrast, the Christian missionaries under the protection of the British government do exactly that to the Hindu community that gathers to celebrate their own festival. This
orientalist discrimination, the newspapers stated was because of "the helplessness of the mild Hindu who identifies his Christian rulers with the Padres and fears to raise his hand against the White Preacher or his black converts." The government ignored these petitions, states Maclean, "perhaps recognizing that once missionaries had been excised from the
umbhmela, government would be next". Despite the aggressive proselytization methods used by Christian missionaries at the Prayag Kumbh melas, states Maclean, they had little success in converting any Hindus there. However, it did help develop vibrant Hindu-owned printing press operations, in reaction to the Christian missionary tactics, that began publishing and widely distributing pro-Kumbh mela, pro-Hindu and anti-colonial literature.
1857 rebellion
The colonial government accused the Prayagwals of contributing to the unrest in Allahabad and in part, for the outbreak of the 1857 uprising at Allahabad. According to the colonial archives, the Praygawal community helped seed and perpetuate the resistance against the Christian missionaries and the 1857 rebellion to the colonial rule.
[ During the 1857 rebellion, Colonel Neill targeted the Kumbh mela site and shelled the region where the Prayagwals lived, destroying it in what Maclean describes as a "notoriously brutal pacification of Allahabad".][ Prayagwals too targeted and destroyed the "mission press and churches in Allahabad". Once the British had regained control of the region, the Prayagwals were persecuted by the colonial officials, some convicted and hanged, while others – for whom the government did not have proof enough to convict – were persecuted nevertheless. Large tracts of Kumbh mela lands near the Ganga-Yamuna confluence were confiscated and annexed into the government cantonment. In the years after 1857, the Prayagwals and the Kumbh Mela pilgrim crowds carried flags with images alluding to the rebellion and the racial persecution. The British media reported these pilgrim assemblies and protests at the later Kumbh Mela as "strangely hostile" and with "disbelief", states Maclean.
]
British Raj
Mid-19th century onwards, the improving road and railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
networks helped the pilgrims. However, the attendance varied over time for many reasons and reliable estimates of attendance are scant. The historical and modern estimates of attendance vary greatly between sources. For example, the colonial era ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'' reported that between 2 to 2.5 million pilgrims attended the Kumbh mela in 1796 and 1808, then added these numbers may be exaggerations. Between 1892 and 1908, in an era of major famines, cholera and plague epidemics in British India, the pilgrimage dropped to between 300,000 to 400,000.[Haridwar]
''The Imperial Gazetteer of India
''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...
'', 1909, v. 13, pp. 52–53
The British government collected taxes, as well as began managing the camping and mela services particularly from the 1860s onwards. It allowed missionaries to camp and distribute their literature, appointed Muslim officials to manage the festival reasoning they were more indifferent to the holy men and "superstitions" at the festival, gave official licenses to "gambling carnivals". The Hindus objected to these appointments and licenses, petitioned against the voyeurism, found the favoritism to and presence of Muslim officials as unacceptable and asked for Hindu officials to lead the festival. Over time, the communal sentiments intensified and the Kumbh mela became an "ideal place to articulate and promote Hindu interests". However, the Kumbh festival itself remained peaceful and "not a venue for Hindu-Muslim violence", states Maclean.
Kumbh mela, 1882
The mela became a source of scandal when a Muslim named Husain was appointed as the Kumbh Mela manager, and Indian newspaper reports stated that Husain had "organized a flotilla of festooned boats for the pleasure of European ladies and gentlemen, and entertained them with dancing girls, liquor and beef" as they watched the pilgrims bathing.
Ardha Kumbh Mela, 1888
A Christian missionary asked the government not to get involved in organization of Kumbh Mela as it made them complicit in idolatry. However, the Magistrate of Allahabad refused to oblige, arguing that the British involvement was necessary to keep the militarized Sadhus under control. ''Prayag Samachar'', a newsletter, blamed Muslims for lighting a fire at the mela. District Magistrate Porter tried to ban nudity, arguing that no Hindu scriptures authorized it. He was supported by the Commissioner of Allahabad, but Lieutenant Governor Auckland Colvin rejected the idea. Colvin, a former Magistrate of Allahabad, argued that there was no need to interfere in a Hindu ceremony which only the Hindus needed to attend.
Kumbh Mela, 1894
According to Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowsh ...
in his work the ''Autobiography of a Yogi
''Autobiography of a Yogi'' is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda (5 January 1893 – 7 March 1952) first published in 1946.
Paramahansa Yogananda was born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, into a Bengali Hindu family. ...
'', it was during the Kumbh Mela in January 1894 at Prayag that his Guru Sri Yukteswar
Sri Yukteswar Giri (also written Sriyuktesvara, Sri Yukteshwar) (Devanagari: ) (10 May 1855 – 9 March 1936) is the monastic name of Priya Nath Karar (also spelled as Priya Nath Karada and Preonath Karar), an Indian monk and yogi, and the g ...
met Mahavatar Babaji
Mahavatar Babaji (; ) is the name given to his guru by Indian yogi Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya (1828-1895), and several of his disciples, who reportedly appeared to them between 1861 and 1935, as described in various publications and biographi ...
for the first time.
Kumbh Mela, 1906
In 1905, a group of prayagwals ceased eating at a charitable feast due to presence of a Muslim police officer. ''Prayag Samachar'', which frequently published communal sentiments – urged the government to ban Muslim police from the area. A clash between the Naga Sadhus occurred at the 1906 Mela. The police ordered a cavalry charge to break up the conflict.
Kumbh Mela, 1942
In 1941, the Government banned sale of tickets intending to travel to Allahabad during 4 January - 4 February 1942. Due to Japan's entry into the World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the Government wanted to keep the number of attendees low. There were rumours that Japan was going to bomb Allahabad.
Also, in 1941, Daraganj-based Mahanirvani Akhara asked the Government to ban the presence of non-Hindus (Muslim police and Christian missionaries) at the mela. The Akhara also expressed displeasure with granting of official licenses to "gambling carnivals" at the mela.
Many newly prosperous villagers started attending the Mela a status symbol, and documented their claimed lineages in the registers of the Pryagwals. Many also documented their land ownership claims in these registers, so that these could be used in court cases, in case of any disputes.
Independent India
Kumbh Mela, 1954
Around 800 people were killed in the 1954 Kumbh Mela stampede on 3 February 1954. Around 5 million pilgrims had visited the festival that year.
Ardh Kumbh Mela, 2007
More than 70 million people visited Ardh Kumbh Mela at Allahabad (Prayag) during a 45-day period.
Kumbh Mela, 2013
An estimated 120 million people visited Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 in Allahabad over a two-month period, including over 30 million on a single day, on 10 February 2013 (the day of Mauni Amavasya).
Allahabad Kumbh 2019
In December 2017, UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
declared the Kumbh to be an "intangible cultural heritage of humanity". On 12 December 2017, , the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, announced the renaming of the "Ardh Kumbh" as the "Kumbh". On 22 December 2017 the Uttar Pradesh Assembly enacted a law setting up the Prayagraj Mela Authority, and implementing the change of name that Adityanath had announced on 12 December. The Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia.
It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyal ...
suggested that the reason for the changes may have been to increase revenue from tourists. Ram Govind Chaudhary said that the law setting up the authority had many provisions that were against the established tenets of sanatan dharma and Hindu dharma
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global pop ...
. Suresh Khanna said though the new law was attempting to change the tradition related to Kumbha, it would not change the beliefs and the process of taking the dip in the river.
Around will be allotted by the state government for the Ardh Kumbh 2019, over two times more than it had spent on the last Kumbh held in 2013. About 199 projects of 16 government departments are underway under four phases which includes a six-lane bridge over the Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
and a four-lane railway over-bridge worth ₹275 crore. The Public Works Department has to execute projects worth ₹430 crore including building an inner ring road in the city. ₹210 crore would be spent on safe drinking water facilities and ₹60 crore to electrify the Kumbh area. Focus is also laid on solid waste management to ensure that Ganga water is not contaminated and putting up LED lights. Moreover, widening and beatification of 18 roads and 25 road crossings is being done with the deadline of October 2017.
Stampedes
Several stampede
A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...
s have occurred at the Allahabad Kumbh Mela, in 1840, 1906, 1954, 1986 and 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
. The deadliest of these was the 1954 stampede, which left 800 people dead.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
{{commons category, Kumbh Mela in Allahabad
Official website
Everything You Need To Know About Allahabad Kumbh Mela 2019
Kumbh Mela
Allahabad culture
January observances
Hindu festivals