Am quite sure, Krishnan and I did the Sangam snan (dip/bath) in the last Maha Kumbh, a 144 years back in some previous life, because if it took Buddha 600+ lives to become The Buddha, we have a really long way to go. It is the good karma of our parents and the blessings of many many people that we got the opportunity to do the Sangam Snan once again during this Maha Kumbh.
Maha Kumbh – Historical & Spiritual Background
There are four types of Kumbh – The annual Magh Mela held in Prayagraj every year starting Sankranti, the Ardh Kumbh held in two locations (Prayag and Haridwar) every six years, the Poorna Kumbh held in four locations (Prayag, Ujjain, Nashik and Haridwar) every 12 years and the Maha Kumbh held only in Prayag after 12 cycles of the Poorna Kumbh.
Prayagraj is the most celebrated location for the Kumbh because of the Triveni sangam, Ganga, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati’s confluence is only at Prayag.
Devas and Rakshasas churned the ocean (Samudra Manthan) of consciousness, for the pot of elixir that promised immortality. Finally when Bhagwan Dhanvantri came up with the pot of elixir, the Rakshasas wrestled it out of his hands and tried to drink it up amongst themselves. While they were running away with the pot, four drops fell to the Earth and the Kumbh mela is held in these four locations – Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nashik and Avantika (Ujjain). I like using Ujjain’s original name because I get goosebumps every time I say “Avantika”. Need to spend time there to understand the emotional connect.
Finally Vishnu rescues the pot of elixir from the Rakshasas by taking the form of Mohini, an enchantress. Well, not just the Rakshasas but Bhagwan Shiva was also enchanted by Mohini and their child is Bhagwan Ayyappa, “Hari Hara Sudan” (Hari – Vishnu; Hara – Shiva; Sudan – Son);
In recent times, Adi Sankara established seven “Akharas” to protect Dharma. Now there are 13 Akharas, some that follow Bhagwan Shiv and others that follow Bhagwan Vishnu. The Akharas are the main focus at the Kumbh Mela. Naga Sadhus are part of some of the Akharas and the Naga Sadhus are both revered and feared. They protect Dharma and except during the Kumbh, no one knows where they go during the rest of the time. They cut all their ties to their families and in fact perform their own last rites before becoming a Naga Sadhu.
The Kumbh Mela dates are as per the Hindu Lunar calendar. This MahaKumbh is extra special because not only are the Sun, the Moon and Jupiter in one line, Saturn is too. In Hindu astrology, Saturn plays a very important role. His position on the horoscope determines many things for an individual. As far as the spiritual significance of Saturn goes, he is the keeper of the Karma ledger !!! He ensures you clear your Karmic debts and tracks new debts that you collect.
It is believed that taking a dip (snan) at the Sangam during Kumbh, helps in expiation of Karma. Again, sin is an easy word and means nothing in Hinduism. We either collect good Karma or bad Karma and eventually the Karma ledger has to be balanced. When the ledger is balanced, we drop out of the cycle of life and death and just merge with the whole.
Kumbha – Pot; Mela – a Fair; Bhagwan Dhanvantri – The creator of Ayurveda, an avatar of Maha Vishnu; Devas – Loose translation is Gods, but they are in reality elements of nature, for instance, Vayudev is the God of wind; Rakshasas – Demons, or lesser evolved Gods :)…. Sangam – Confluence;
Our Maha Kumbh Sangam snan story is one full of twists and turns, just like life has been for us. The first attempt to book a tent was on a fraudulent website. Thankfully I checked Twitter before making the payment !
Thanks to Designs 4 Trips India LLP, (got their reference from our dear friends Vidya and Arun) we got the flight tickets booked for Feb 19 to Prayagraj and the return flight on the 20th. They also tried to help us book a cottage but it didnt work out.
We started from home at 8.35 am for the 11.55 am flight on the 19th. The web checkin was available only 24 hours before unlike the 48 hours that regular flights allow. We packed enough dosas in sets of two so that we didnt have to eat any outside food at Prayagraj. I packed one change of clothes for all three of us and everything was packed in polythene bags so that they wouldn’t get wet incase the bag fell into the river :).
At the airport Rajesh kept checking in with us regarding accommodation because Amma was coming with us and he didnt want us sleeping at the airport. He got us connected to Manish, who was looking around for a home stay as a backup option.
Even as we waited to board the flight to Prayagraj, the first twist happened. Krishnan got a call from someone called Daadu who said he would be our guide as the guide we had spoken to earlier was not available. I then called Rahul, the guide I had spoken to and paid Rs. 4000/- for a driver to pick us up at the airport, who said that his father was unwell and hence Daadu would come to guide us.
I called the taxi driver who said he will be at the airport by 1 pm since our flight was landing at 1.30 pm. We landed in Prayagraj at 1.30 pm and as planned with the driver, I called him. He told me that he was stuck in a traffic jam and would take between 45 minutes to an hour to reach the airport. He suggested that we take another taxi. While Krishnan went to the taxi counter, I spoke to Rahul Ji and he promptly transferred the 4000/- I had paid him earlier.
We got into the taxi and were told that we will be dropped off at Balua Ghat and not at the Yamuna Boat Club as planned earlier. I kept calling Daadu the replacement guide and strangely enough, he never picked up the call even once. Rahul Ji gave us a boat man’s number who could help us in getting a boat to reach the Triveni Sangam. The taxi driver turned out to be a fellow Haryanvi, and said that he was just making some money by driving people to the various ghats. He stopped midway to collect some package from a fellow driver and went through narrow lanes and bylanes of Prayagraj that made us a little uncomfortable.
Just as he crossed the Balua Ghat to take us to the Yamuna Boat Club, I spoke to the boat man whose contact was given to us by Rahul Ji. The boat man said, we should get off at the Balua Ghat because no motorboats were plying from Yamuna Boat Club at that time. Our taxi driver just left us at a cross road and never shared his number despite our asking if he could ferry us back to the airport next day morning.
Anyway, we found an e-rickshaw (battery operated) to take us to the Balua Ghat and the rickshaw driver got us to speak with a boat man. We agreed to pay Rs. 7000/- for ferrying the three of us to the Sangam and got into his boat. Luckily for us, there was just one other Tamilian Venkatesh, already in the boat, and also going to the Sangam. We were off to the Sangam by 3.11 pm.
Took the dip at the Sangam around 4.30 pm and Venkatesh helped us by taking a video and a few pics. Amma just sprinkled some of the water on herself and didnt get off the boat. The water was cool and as we prayed facing the Sun, the sounds subsided, and a sense of serenity enveloped us. Krishnan and I felt we have done this before and felt one with all the millions of fellow Bharatiyas. It was a shared moment of eternity.
We helped Venkatesh by taking videos and pics of his Sangam Snan and by 4.45 pm or so, we were on our way back to Balua Ghat. Manish had called us by then and said there is a home stay very close to Balua Ghat and he offered to pick us up from the main road once we were back. The return journey was longer as the boatmen had to row against the current. As we neared the Balua Ghat, there were enough mosquitoes to lift the boat with all of us in it.
We got back to Balua Ghat by 6.45 pm and then took an e-rickshaw to the cross road where we had been dropped earlier. As we tried to cross the main road to go to the sweet shop where Manish had asked us to stand… I had a panic attack for 5 minutes. Krishnan and I have navigated worser traffic but my panic stemmed from the fact that I had to take Amma across the road safely. These vehicles were coming in every direction and the noise of the horns was just unbearable. I finally composed myself and every single scooter/bike/rickshwa/car stopped the minute I stepped forward with Amma and the driver could see her.
The video of the traffic at the Balua Ghat crossing –
We safely made it to the sweet shop and Manish picked us up in the next few minutes. He took us to the home stay that’s run by his sister-in-law. We were meeting Manish for the first time, but felt totally at home. There are too many common values, ideas and experiences for us not to be friends :). The Maha Kumbh twists and turns were all meant to bring us together. After exchanging interesting experiences, having great tea and some of the home made dosas, we fell asleep.
Woke up by 4.30 to see a message from Manish saying he couldn’t get a taxi to drop us at the airport and so he was coming himself. He picked us up at 5.30 am and we were at the airport by 6 am for our 9.40 am return flight.
The airport looked like a large dormitory !! So many people were either sleeping on chairs or on the floor with their bag for a pillow. We managed to get excellent tea at the airport and boarded our flight without further twists and turns. Returned home safely after an excellent lunch at Rajesh’s place.
It took us the better part of yesterday to recover from the trip… Amma kept saying, it feels like a dream. Indeed it does.
We didnt have the time to visit the Akharas as many of them have left the Maha Kumbh. Just taking the dip at the Triveni was a blessing in itself.
Am not writing about the excellent arrangements made at Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh. Sharing the comprehensive blog written by Rajesh – The Maha Kumbh: A sea of humanity in perfect harmony.
Some infographics that speak to the mammoth scale of the Maha Kumbh –
Note – the total footfall has crossed 56 crores or 560 million people have taken the dip at the Sangam.
Additional reading – UP Economy To Grow By Over Rs 3 Lakh Crore – Thanks To Maha Kumbh
My blog from the Ardh Kumbh in 2019 – Kumbh 2019 – Hope, Pride and all things Spiritual.
As I wished in 2019, Yogi Ji is still the Chief Minister and Maha Kumbh exceeded expectations at all levels. 🙏
Har Har Gange ! Har Har Mahadev !