The Divine Kumbh
Echoes of Eternity: Ganga, Shipra, Godavari and Sangam
Deepak Kumar Sen
Niyogi Books
Deepak Sen’s book on the Kumbh🥀 comes out at a fortuitous time, to coincide with the Kumbh of Kumbhs, the MahaKumbh held in Prayag after 144 years. Set out simply and engagingly, Sen takes his readers on a tour of the different aspects of the Kumbh, beginning with its ancient history, when visitors to Chandragupta Maurya’s court heard of the gathering taking place, followed by an account written by Xuanxang. He quotes various British historians, including Jadunath Sarkar along the way and speaks of the three different myths associated with the origin of the great Samudra Manthan and explains why the Kumbh is held in four different places at 6 and 12 yearly intervals.
ꦕAccompanying this are astrological charts—Kumbh means water bearer and coincides with the English zodiac sign of Aquarius— the Hindu Kumh Rashi falls in the month of Magh, hence the holding of the mela in that particular month. He then deals with the controversial Naga sadhus, the ash smeared stalwarts who gave their lives the past to defend the faith—beating back the bloodthirsty armies of Ahmad Shah Abdali at Gokul, which though it resulted in the loss of many lives saved the city whereas Banaras was ravaged and headless bodies lay around the streets.
൩We are taken through the heritage of their ten Akharas, which during Mughal and British times, became centres for practicing martial arts since Hindus were forbidden to carry arms so that the Sadhus evolved into a fighting force and even found mention during the time of Alexander the Great’s invasion of North India.
♏Sen explores the significance of the different types of tikas for the reader and then expands on the Shahi Snan—a name which combines Persian and Sanskrit words and bears testimonial to the cross cultural nature of the Kumbh. The fact that the sadhus were flexible also emerges through the revelation that there was a Sufi Sadhu who lived in medieval times and was known as Multani Baba.
💙The fact that the search for moksha, liberation from the cycle of rebirth is shared by millions across the globe regardless of where they come from is brought out—this year Steve Jobs’ wife, we know was a visitor to the MahaKumbh—which is why UNESCO gave it an Intangible Cultural Heritage rating in 2017. In a world of confusion and chaos, the Kumbh represents a chance for the soul to find salvation.
ಌHis narrative goes on to talk about the future of Kumbh, the refining of tent cities with technology and the setting up of new Akharas and the induction of Dalit women as sadhus.
✱Sen’s book is rich in colourful photographs that capture the atmosphere of Kumbh Mela showing the sadhus in all their marigold and ash smeared glory—well, the Naga sadhus, at least the saints, the rituals and the different kinds of devotees who flock to what was one Allahabad. Sen is from Prayagraj, which gives him a special connection to the Kumbh Mela—he brings the Kumbh alive as both a travel destination and a beacon of faith, a constant in a fluid illusory world.
