All Shades Of Kumbh

So, the stampede happened. Each death is a tragedy but there’s also perspective – crores of people were at the Kumbh. VIPs given special access to the holy waters seldom face problems. It’s ordinary people who die. Many will say those who die here, at this time, are destined to go directly to heaven, for the congregation commemorates the churning of the nectar of immortality (amrit) in Satya Yuga. Faith can explain away any tragedy.In the week that saw China launch its DeepSeek AI, shaking up the American domination of the technology ecosystem, millions have been encouraged by the Sanatani social media to take a dip in the confluence of three rivers (Tri-veni Sangam) of Prayagraj (ex-Allahabad). For there is a rare planetary alignment that will transform the river water into nectar.With this event, Sanatanis sought to establish India’s supremacy in the spiritual domain, to make up for India’s many shortcomings in the material domain. More people were at this site, on the holy day, than at Mecca or Jerusalem, it will be proclaimed. And it will all be voluntary, not bound by any holy injunction. A unique feature of Sanatan Dharma.Those who call themselves Sanatanis today, were called Tirthikas by Buddhists, centuries ago, because they loved to bathe at holy sites (tirtha). Traditional faiths involve ‘doing’ far more than ‘thinking’. The point is to act, perform the ritual, not wonder about its purpose. This is orthopraxy, a key feature of all religions, despite attempts to intellectualise it since the Enlightenment. To be Muslim, for example, one has to be seen doing Hajj. To be Sanatani, you must be seen in the pilgrim spots that gurus popularise: in 2024, it was Ayodhya; in 2025, it is Prayagraj.The first mention of this grand gathering comes from Chinese Buddhist chronicles, dated to 7th century AD. The Chinese scholar Xuanzang observed many immortality-seeking Hindus came here to die, in the shade of a Banyan tree. This tree known as the Akshya-vat, or the immortal tree, still stands, locked within a fort built by Akbar in the 16th century. Even today, civilians are not allowed near this tree.As per local lore, Akbar was a yogi in his previous life, who was cursed to be born as a mleccha (barbarian) because he accidentally consumed a single cow’s hair with his milk. Karmic memory prompted Akbar to build his biggest fort at this site. He named the city Illahabas, abode of god. Later Mughals called it Allahabad, city of Allah or God. His legendary fondness for yogis and mystics and for Sanatani rituals annoyed the Muslim orthodoxy in his court. medium nocaption117726113The sacred Akshya-vat also marks the spot where the first Jain Tirthankara of this era, Rishabh-dev, gave his first sermon, in a circular hall (samavarsana), on how non-violence can end the endless cycle of death. Significantly, the most special Magh Mela at Triveni Sangam comes every 12 years when Jupiter enters Rishabha Rashi (Taurus Zodiac). The connection between the names of the Zodiac and the Tirthankar cannot be a coincidence.The gathering at Haridwar happened with the entry of Jupiter into Kumbha Rashi (Aquarius Zodiac), and the gathering at Nashik and Ujjain happened with the entry of Jupiter into Simha Rashi (Leo Zodiac). So it was Rishabha Mela, Kumbha Mela and Simhastha Mela. All were renamed Kumbh and linked to the nectar of immortality after, and because of, the 1857 uprising.After the 1857 uprising, the usual gathering in the month of Magh (Jan-Feb) at the then Allahabad was prevented for a few years. But it resumed in the 1860s. Since the British Crown, which had replaced the East India Company, promised not to interfere in religious matters, the locals insisted this gathering was religious. But Europeans knew, looking at the angry faces of pilgrims, and the hundreds of flags raised by ascetic-warriors of akharas (gymnasiums), that it was not so. Every 12th Magh Mela came to be officially declared as Kumbh Mela, after 1868. The word ‘Triveni’ was linked to the Sangam only in 1873, clearly linking the pilgrim spot to the Vedic Saraswati. Since then, the gathering is not just about Sanatani spirituality, it is also an expression of Sanatani political power.Here gather, every 12 years, the warrior-ascetics of various denominations – the Shaivas, the Vaishnavas, the Naths, the Udasin (Sikhs), the Kabiras. Now there is even the Kinnar Akhara, for transgenders, invented recently to accommodate queer folks into the Sanatani fold. Everyone is invited to witness the spectacle.It is also a great opportunity to generate wealth from the pilgrim-tourist economy. It is also a great event to show the world how great India is – we can get the richest people of the world to publicly dip in waters declared holy by Sanatanis, hygiene notwithstanding. The poor, meanwhile, will be asked to wait for their turn, as they always have, which comes eventually. Faith grants ordinary Indians immense patience. They will die waiting, and still not dissent.