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MAHA KUMBHA MELA Jim: The first one was more or less by chance because I was studying language in India that year, living in Delhi. But the second one was by design because after the first and before the second I lived a year in Haridwar, where I did my dissertation research. blue: Was yow motive academic or participatory? Jim: One of my teachers said to me that the things we choose to study reveal a great deal about ourselves. And I can't think of anybody in the study of religion who doesn't care deeply about what they do. When I went to the 1998 Kumbha Mela, I was there on a research project. I had very definite goals about what I wanted to accomplish, although one of those goals was simply to be there from beginning to end, to see the whole ebb and flow of the Mela itself. Jack: It struck me that this was a major cultural event that had not really been very well studied. Of course I've been moved personally by my study of Hinduism, but I was mainly there to research and to study the way Indian culture and Hinduism is developing these days. Jason: I was at the Burning Man festival in Nevada last sum- mer when I overheard someone talking about "50 million people coming together at the river." They were talking about the Maha Kumba Mela. A few days later, I bought tickets to Bombay knowing nothing about the event except the mct that there was a real risk of being tran1pled to death by exuberant sadhus (whomever they were). I purchased a used Lonely Planet India, circa 1986, at the local book swap and read up on the latest malaria pills. Then I spent three weeks there. blue: Who goes to Kumbha Mela? Jason: Hindus of all castes converge for this spiritual event. Even hermits who live in remote caves, forests and mountains emerge from seclusion to make a pilgrimage to Allahabad for the big celebration-for some, it is the only time they talk and interact with other people. In turn, Kumbha Mela attracts those who would like to meet these reclusive yogis and receive their ancient wisdom. blue: Are there caste or socioeconomic related issues that affect who attends? Shyamdas: Probably all four castes, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, attend the Kumbha Mela, but you have to realize that a large percentage of the attendees at this Kumbha Mela are the sadhus [Hindu ascetics). When people become sadhus, traditionally they drop their caste distinction. Jack: There's a theory that in general pilgrimage sites tradi- tional social distinctions break down and everybody comes rogether. That's definitely true in the bathing at the Kumbha-there are no caste distinctions there. But otherwise, where people stay, where people eat, I assume that they more or less maintain ca'te distinctions. Jim: Basically there's no worry about caste distinctions. People tend to travel with family groups and will stay with teachers. These sorts of circles are often drawn from people from the same groups. Srinivas: From what I saw, there were not a lot of middle-class or upper-midrlle-class people there. Most of the people I saw came from the villages, furmers or industrial workers. Jack: I disagree. In recent Kumbhas, the government has had to add large parking lots, which they've never had to do before, because midrlle-class people use cars a lor more now than they ever have before. In terms of total numbers, the midrlle class and upper-cia" people represent a small proportion, but a lot of them do come. blue: What about foreigners? Jason: There were a few thousand foreigners at the Mela, mainly members of the international press corps covering the event. Spiritual groups were conspicuous in their sandalwood beads and orange robes. You also had your pricey package- tour-travelers, enticed to the event by promises of experienced guides, safe food, clean bathrooms, comfortable beds fur away from the festival grounds and a buffer from the true viscera of the Mela. The rest, I think, were mostly like me: travelers who came for a unique life experience. blue: How are foreigners received? Jason: Foreign (non-Hindu) influence, even in such small numbers, is perceived as tainting the sacred spirituality of the 72 (continued ji-om page 45) event, and some Indians resent foreigners for that. On the other hand, the majority of gurus, sadhus and pilgrims give foreign travelers special attention and are delighted by their attendance. It is common for Inruans ro sprint across the road just to beg for your autograph or to pose for a picture with you. blue: Was Madonna really there? Jason: The Indian newspapers said she was, along with Paul McCartney, Sharon Srone and Demi Moore. The inevitable Richard Gere sightings were reported as well. In 1895, well before chakras, yoga and karma became hip in the West, Mark Twain paid a visit to the Mela. blue: Why do people attend the Kumbha Mela? What are their motivations? Jack: If you ask 30 million people the same question, you're not going to get the same answer. Everybody knows the story abour the Jayant and the nectar (see page 41) and they think there's something special about bathing in the river. Whether they think they're going to get immortality or their sins washed away, or that it's a big deal, or just want to see peo- ple-you get really different answers. Jim: Many people come to spend time meeting and talking with the sadhus. There are religious discourses; it's not uncommon for people who have a guru to come and spend several weeks there. The religious atn10sphere is heightened. Some Indian gurus even cater to mainly European or American white folk. blue: Would you go so far as to call these Westerners attending the Kumbha Mela sensationalist tourists? Jim: People go for all sorts of reasons. Indian, European or American, mere are sensation-seekers. You know, "Here's a bunch of ash-smeared guys with long drearllocks carrying weapons, wandering around naked-let's go look at them!" But to say that this is why people go would be simplistic. blue: Do you think that sensationalist motivation is a pos- itive or a negative thing? Shyamdas: Overall the effect is probably good because then Westerners might come to understand the riches of Inrua. When Great Britain went to Inrua, it basically went to trade; now people are going to India to find the jewels of the Indian mind-and these are found when Westerners actually go to India. I've heard that when the iron bird flies, dharma moves west. The land of India carries a certain empowerment that allows for understanding-and that's why we all went to the Kumbha. blue: The internet carried a quote regarding Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress, attending the Kumbha Mela: "Why would she want to visit anyway if she is not a Hindu, but born and raised a Catholic Christian?" Do people of other faiths come? Jim: I've met Muslims who have been at the Kumbha Mela, who did not come for religious reasons, but because they wanted to see it. Jack: While there is no legal or religious restriction on who can come, it's also common to hear people say that some of the religious leaders there are fukers-some politicians are there just to get votes and it's a bad thing. I can't tell you who has good motivations and who has bad ones. A lot of people do think they know what your motivations should be for attend- ing and that some don't come for the right reasons. Jim: At the time of Sonia Gandhi's bath, a lot of newspaper commentary felt this was a political stunt; that it was done to solirufY suppOrt for the congress party. Jack: So the politicians come because it's a place where there are millions of people and they can get a lot of press coverage. And to a certain extent the religious leaders compete with each other for merua exposure too. blue: Where do people stay? Jason: The majority camp along the roads on the Kumbha Mela grounds with fumily or spiritual groups. The average Kumbha Mela accommodations are a bed of straw and a wool blanket under a makeshift tent. In the camps usually there's a separate cooking tent for making bread and boiling rice. Some have makeshift toilets, but bathroom faci lities for others con- sist of a dirry field or the river. Spigots installed throughout the grounds are for washing and drinking; bathing and clothes washing are mostly done in the river. blue: What about lodging for the luxury traveler? Jason: The infumous Cox and King's camp is a luxury "hotel" mainly for foreigners, and devoid of any holy sadhus, but boasting an aesthetically landscaped and crafted tent plaza for the rich and dite. blue: Where would a backpacker stay? Jason: For the resourceful traveler, Kumbha Mela is a porluck of shelter options. Uncertainty about where you might rest from one night to the next is one of the great adventures of the festival. Though you can pay for some- thing safe and clean, thousands of camps will take you in for nothing, or perhaps for helping cut potatoes before ri,e evening meal. blue: How long do people stay at the festival? Jason: Some pilgrims stay the entire month and a half. Others, like the politically sensitive Dalai Lama, sneak into the festival for a midnight bath and are quickly ferried away after- wards. blue: For a Westerner living and working in the United States, the idea of a good percentage of the population being able to relocate for a month obviously is an interest- ing one. Jack: On the main bathing day [one of the five days over the course of the Mela predetermined by astrologets ro be celes- tially auspicious for bathing] there are millions of people but between bathing days, there are not. So the figure of 30 to 70 million people is a bit misleading-those people are not all taking a month off. The professional renouncers [people who have given up material posessions and attachments] don't have jobs anyway. Some of them do stay for the whole montl1, oth- ers come and go. Among the average pilgtims, rl1e proportion of people who were there for the whole month is low. I would guess rl1at it is well below 10 percent. Jim: I would also say it's very low. In Haridwar I was down by the Ganges when I met these people who had driven up from Delhi on their day off. They had come, taken their baths and were going back that evening. It is very common for people to make very short trips. Shyamdas: The sadhus won't tend to be day-trippers, because their occupation is being renunciates, living either by holy rivers or holy ashrams. I have heard of sadhus who spend their lives wandering from one Kumbha Mela to another. It takes them a year or two just to get from one to the next. That's how they pass their time. Jack: It's very common, even among middle-class families in India today, for people to spend their vacations going to tem- ples or pilgrimage sites. Some fumilies never do the American thing of going to the beach or the mountains. They always spend their vacations going somewhere religious. Shyamdas: Absolutely. A vacation time for many Inruans is going on some sorr of pilgrimage. It's only the upper-crust Indians who are going to Malaysia, to the beach. Jim: Traditionally in India, pilgrimage was the only socially- sanctioned reason for people to travel. As you find in Christian pilgrimage in the Midrlle Ages. Jack: There are many families, even today, where the women will only travel OUt of town to visit relatives or to go on pil- grimage. Pilgrimages are a very important social experience, especially for women. blue: The Kumbha Mela has been called a "fair," a "gath- ering." a "pilgrimage," a "festival." How do you define Maha Kumbha Mela? How does it relate to the English words used to describe it? Jim: The word "festival" is used after rl1e Christian trarution for religious holidays, but it also has rl1e sense of a group of people together. The word which means "to come together." Shyamdas: A mela is a festival. A Hindi expression says One, you are alone. Two, it's a mela. Obviously here there are more than twO, but it's people attending a festivity. It's like a party. The concept of mela, of coming tOgether to celebrate en masse, is an ancient Indian concept. ""fa comes from a Sanskrit root (continued)