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Published: March 25th 2010
Write what should not be forgotten.... Hmmm.... Nothing like some big shoes to fill....
Predominantly, a sacred Hindu pilgrimage, Kumbha Mela is the largest spiritual gathering in the world. 'Kumbha' means 'pot' (with no handles) and 'Mela' means 'gathering' or 'fair'. Legend says that at the beginning of creation, all the Gods were under a curse making them weak. Brahma (The Creator) advised them to retrieve the pot of immortality. The Gods sought the help of the Demons. During the battle to retrieve and possess the nectar, four drops spilled in four places: Allahabad (Prayag), Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain.
This auspicious coming together, takes place four times every twelve years at one of the four sacred places along the Ganga River, dependent upon the position of planet Brhaspati (Jupiter), the Moon and Sun.
A few others from nearby Ashrams arrived to join our mini bus of Karma Yogis to make the journey toward Haridwar. Leaving Jadan in the morning, we slowly traversed the 550 odd km roads full of trucks, buses, motorbikes (in Delhi, only the rider is obliged to wear a helmet; pillion passengers are not subject to helmet wearing, nor any women - in favour of
maintaining beautiful hairstyles or Sikhs - turban wearers for religious purpose), rikshaws, cows and when slowing down to less than a running pace there were also plenty of salesmen.
We arrived in Delhi to a delicious dinner prepared by our Ashram hosts. Many of us had some (however small) expectation that we'd be sleeping the night and continuing on further the next day. Swamiji had other ideas. Our driver cat-napped across the seats while we ate and washed and then it was time to re-load the bus and continue on the journey. The next 200ish km to Haridwar were full of chai breaks for our driver and not a small number of mosquitoes. We rolled into the Yoga in Daily Life campsite before sunrise. It was surreal, arriving at the tent city and it was very impressively set out and maintained.
Compared with my usual standards for camping comforts, our Sandy Oasis was somewhere in the luxurious category. Our camp consisted of a series of sleeping tents with real beds and thick blankets for the cool nights. Ablutions were plentiful at the back of camp and the toilets had doors with catches and real sinks with taps. In
the center of these was a fireplace with a perfect giant sized Halva pot, with regular hot water for washing.
Other parts of camp included a kitchen, dinning hall, prayer hall, first aid room, shop, storage tents and a guest greeting space for Swamiji. The workshop was a hive of activity, where a myriad of projects were carried out and filtered water units maintained a steady supply of drinking water for the campers.
Swimming in Ganga was revitalising. I floated weightlessly on my back and enjoyed the magical properties of water, gazing at hawks and gulls above in the vast expanse we call the sky.
The ancient city of Haridwar was transformed into another world. It was certainly a uniting occasion for cultures, religions and countries. A time and place for reviving and collectively practicing the positive human values. The art of being fully alive right now, holding nothing back, innerly content. Bound by social solidarity, sharing a common responsibility to preserve the harmony and our natural environment. A Jamboree of giant proportion....
The day before the main bathing day, roads into and out of the city were closed some 15km away from the action, resulting
in many pilgrims including the sick and elderly left with no option other than to travel by foot. In contrast, the Yoga in Daily Life team ran a tight ship with all the efficiency of a Japanese subway at peak hour. It was a reflection of Swamiji's expertise in choosing the right people to coordinate the right jobs in timely fashion.
There were of course moments like this one when a European member of the contingent knocked on Ashokanandji (Karma Yogi for 10+ years)'s door and said "There is a one hour karma yoga action, if you'd like to come and do some karma yoga".
The second Shahi Snan (Royal Bath) took place on March 15th. We had a street parade with two floats which Mark, Ashokanandji, Yogirajji and Dhyananandji helped build. The first float was accompanied with about 200 International Bhaktas carrying orange flags and headed by Mahamandaleshwar Shri Swami Maheshwaranandaji (our Swamiji). We joined Mahamandaleshwar Shri Swami Jasraj Puriji for his inaugural float in the procession through the streets of Haridwar toward the main bathing ghat.
The streets were lined with an incredibly active crowd, all vying for flowers thrown from the spiritual leaders, chanting
praises to God and the chorus was "Hara, Hara, Mahadev!"
There were 8 Million people bathing in the Holy Ganges River from around the 12 Million that were in Haridwar for the occasion. The population was more than swollen when you consider that prior and after Kumbh, the population of Haridwar is approximately 500 000.
The uniting factor bringing so many people together is having faith in the waters of River Ganges to cleanse the body, mind and spirit.
This is what Mark Twain had to say after his Kumbh Mela experience in 1895: '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. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites.'
For understanding the process of our existence (self-knowledge) there needs to be integration within ourselves. As a stepping stone,
Eating Indian Style in our Dining Tent
Recognition to Swami Chidanandji for the amazing picturethere must be freedom from fear. So, I'm thinking people make the pilgrimage purely on a quest in love and devotion.
During the day Swamiji and Jasraji joined many other Mahamandaleshwars for Bandaras (offerings of food for the Sadhus). One of the purposes of attending the Kumbha Mela is to offer Seva or service.... something like Karma yoga, for self and others. Many cooks stay up all night in preparation for feasts the following day. Despite their fatigue, they are still full of the great joy of giving to serve the food to each guest. It was a beautiful opportunity to be on the meal serving team for our camp.
Other aspects of the Kumbh experience included personal Sadhana (yoga practice) and evening Satsung with Swamiji or Jasraji as well as singing (bhajans). One evening Swamji had some Shankaracharya followers pay a visit. One of the Sadhus spoke to us and shared his experience and understanding after being shot 18 times. His resolve was "Give me the wisdom to see the other man's point of view".
One evening we played 'change the carpets' under Swamiji's instructions. It was a funny Lila (play) trying various combinations of carpets
as a seating area on the stage for special guests. In the end we were relatively successful!
I sustained an injury to my thumb while collecting rocks from the sandy banks of Ganga for our dry rock mulching project and nursing a lot of pain, decided to visit the local Doctor to put my mind at ease. In times of economic uncertainty and inflation, here in India, 100 rupees (just over $2 Aus) is adequate to pay for 2 X-Rays (revealing tissue damage and no fractures).
One day we went into the downtown area for some sightseeing, shopping and icecream. There was no shortage of these and a vibrant steady crowd filled the streets. The festive mood bubbled, enterprises thrived. The classic picture I didn't capture on camera was a boy in a gaming arcade, balanced perfectly in Ekapada Pranamasana (yoga tree pose, standing on 1 leg, the sole of 1 foot resting on the other inner thigh). The epitome of centering oneself despite the outside bustle.
Then there was the 4am revali to go on an adventure with Laura to the train station and meet with one of her Ayurvedic teachers from the U.S. who was
Meditation Time in the Camp Prayer Hall
Recognition to Swami Chidanandji for the amazing picture passing through town with some new students. We enjoyed morning street chai and that was just the beginning. There was the perfect apple core throw to the roadside cow, the girl squeal when we missed getting hit by a bus by a nanosecond and a divine river dip.
A has been in a good space, enjoying lots of peaceful time people watching, playing in sand by the river, reading and listening to the audio books Mark recently downloaded for him.
It's quite possible Cal loved the Kumbh more than any of us, finding treasures in the Ganga River every day and enjoying his open lines of communication with Swamiji and Jasraji. Some of the things he found in the river were a Baba stick, a Ganesh statue, a Saraswati statue, pieces of cloth, rocks and a shawl for me: "MMMUUUUMMMMM! I found a new SHAWL for you". Very timely since I came back to the river bank to find my own shawl not where I had left it and was in need of something dry to make the conservative walk back to camp to change.
Some of Shiv Prem (Cal)'s wisdoms from the week include: "Love is
God, God is Love", "I'd like to get a delivery of pizza from this Haridwar pizza shop to Jadan Ashram", "You mean at the main bath where Swamiji dresses up like a mermaid and they have all the big umbrellas?", "Can you please stop talking to me? I'm trying to manifest something". When Cal gave out some bangles on the last day and Tulsi Devi Ji said "They don't match my outfit, can they be earrings instead?" Cal replied "Yes! Now you just need to go to the workshop and have some holes drilled and get hooks!"
We all loved it though. Despite the fact Mark's lens has really been unfriendly, he enjoyed the abundant photo opportunities immensely.
And me? Well, after the morning prayer I escaped the walls to enjoy the solitude of a sandbank that was my island on the banks of Ganga for Pranayam, Meditation and people watching. As anywhere in the world, this river is really a life source for the people and they came in groups early to wash and pray.
It seems these yogis know me quite well. Here are a few of the comments they had for me during my
week in camp: If you need to escape the madness, you can just go over there to the peace of my tent!", "What happened to you? You look... different... somehow tired. Are you.... sleeping?!", "Do you love India? Hmmm... You can see it in you", "Maintain the standard!", "You have an extraordinary life... You've created it", "You can distribute it... You're the mother of all anyway", "Have you seen the chocolate fairy?", "Do you maybe have some biscuits?", "It's nice to see someone that's not afraid of her own shadow", "You're right. It really is an island here", "One life... hmmm.", "You are a master organizer".
Parting words of advice from one of the Australian Yogis who contributed to the camaraderie at Kumbh were these: "Keep your energy level here (pointing to my forehead) rather than up here (pointing to one foot above my head)" Somehow this resonated very strongly with my morning insight during meditation.... Maintaining the harmony by waiting for the body.... not allowing the mind to be.... so far ahead."
Driving out of Haridwar we noted a classic billboard with a very airbrushed picture of the Ganges River and the words: 'Take a dip in
happiness'...
Now we are in Delhi and from the rooftop above the Ashram I can see the vacant lot below. It's imploring me to collect all the rubbish and reveal more of the beauty there. It's like how Swamiji reflects on Ganga. It's always been clean and beautiful, it's really up to us to preserve that.
From a distance the scene appears serene...
Taking in the continuity of ancient India,
Stepping forward from what has been.
Embracing the power of positive media...
Let people be more health aware...
Seek help, have trust, purify thought.
What is it to respect and really care?
Being happy, not something merely taught...
The tasty dinner prepared by our Ashram hosts went down well before endeavoring significant digesting and seeking much needed rest. Just for the record: it may be the first time Cal has said no to double desert! He asked for double subji (vegies) instead!
100 words are not up to 1 picture, 100 pictures are not up to 1 video and 100 videos can not convey the full measure of 1 first hand experience at the Kumbh. Mark your diary for the next 1!
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Gayatri
non-member comment
Hari om , Yashoda you are a constant shining light of inspiration. Love to you xx