Kumbh mela presented as a sea of human faith in the panoramic studies of Artist Prashant Panjiar. By U Nair

The Kumbh Mela, also called “Pitcher Festival”, welcomes thousands of devotees who arrive at the confluence of the three sacred rivers or Sangam— the Yamuna, the Ganga and the Saraswati at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prashant Panjiar’s panoramic studies present the Kumbh mela as a sea of human faith, unfettered by limitations only in search of their own nirvana albeit for a few moments. His Kumbh images from 2007 form one of the studies at the Kolkata International Photo Festival.

Vedic influences

“The Kumbh Mela is all about scale,” says Panjiar who has shot there ever since 2001. “It’s a massive enterprise where on certain days more than 10 million people at a time come to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganga, to wash away their sins and free themselves from the cycle of death and re-birth. A mini-tented city springs up on the banks of the river, the local government sets up a special administration, a massive police force is deployed, extra trains and buses are on a run.”

Throughout the days of the festival, pilgrims of different strata of society arrive from across India to bathe in the Ganga and partake of an accumulation of good karma, which they believe will contribute towards them breaking free from a cycle of reincarnation to ultimately attain their own nirvana, free of worldly concerns. Panjiar captures the opening day of this mela where 1.5 million pilgrims bathe together en masse.

Wandering minstrels

“Pilgrims, religious leaders, shopkeepers, merchants and wandering minstrels, stream in from all corners of the country. And then there are the sadhus, the rockstars of them all are the Naga Babas — stark naked, wild, irreverent, ascetics smoking hashish. They are raised as an army to protect the Hindu saints, they have become the centerpiece of the Kumbh, viewed with more awe than the religious leaders whose processions they grace,” explains Panjiar.

When you look at the pictures of multitudes in their own trance, replete with their own expressive echoes, you understand that Panjiar himself felt the gravitational pull of the earthly spectacle that distills everything that defines India. In these black and white images, you can sense the fervent drama and theatricality of Hindu worship and the medley of the many rituals that accompany singing, dancing and chanting of mantras.

Pilgrims’ hopes

“The majority of the pilgrims are poor people, who walk miles carrying their meagre belongings on their heads and shoulders, crossing the pontoon bridges, clutching on to a family member’s shawl or sari to avoid getting separated and lost,” says Panjiar.

“They will reach the river bank, camp out in the bitter cold night, cook their simple meals on cow-dung cake flames, prepared to bathe in the holy waters at the crack of dawn at the most auspicious moment. I saw transgenders singing songs for the naked Naga Sadhus in their camp, who in turn blessed the pilgrims milling around, while fellow travellers smoked hashish in an invocation to the God Shiva,” he adds.

And if you could ignore the loud and screeching announcements over the public address system, you would hear the sound of many different languages and dialects mingling in the air. A group of Kalpvasis (people who pledge to live and worship on the bank of the river for a month) freshly bathed in the river, heads shaved and draped in white, formed a tight circle in the crowd of 10 million people, to pray and sing to their God. It is India in its extreme diversity.

Cornucopia of ascetics

Prayagraj’s mela squeezes onto a floodplain where the Ganga meets the Yamuna. The first sight of its temporary tented city is simply unbelievable .

The mela draws tens of millions of pilgrims over the course of approximately 48 days to bathe at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati river. The congregation includes ascetics, saints, sadhus, sadhvis, kalpvasis and pilgrims from all walks of life.

“For all its complexity and enormity, the Kumbh is actually about the simplicity of faith that drives this massive enterprise. It is about how every person is able to make a connection with his belief while being part of such a large noise. You don’t have to be a Hindu, or even a believer, to relate to that idea,” concludes Panjiar.

Whether he captures sunrise or sunset, it is the spirit and the fervour of the aarti that beckons us. Amid the ageless, ritualistic fire purification ceremonies, performed by Brahmin priests on plinths alongside the Ganga, the  twirl of camphor lamps leave trails of fire in the blackness as the raucous sounds of souls filter through the night. An American priest who has become an ardent follower expresses his inner recesses. The Kumbh is many stories, many journeys and the power of the human spirit.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Writer: Uma Nair

Kumbh mela presented as a sea of human faith in the panoramic studies of Artist Prashant Panjiar. By U Nair

The Kumbh Mela, also called “Pitcher Festival”, welcomes thousands of devotees who arrive at the confluence of the three sacred rivers or Sangam— the Yamuna, the Ganga and the Saraswati at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prashant Panjiar’s panoramic studies present the Kumbh mela as a sea of human faith, unfettered by limitations only in search of their own nirvana albeit for a few moments. His Kumbh images from 2007 form one of the studies at the Kolkata International Photo Festival.

Vedic influences

“The Kumbh Mela is all about scale,” says Panjiar who has shot there ever since 2001. “It’s a massive enterprise where on certain days more than 10 million people at a time come to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganga, to wash away their sins and free themselves from the cycle of death and re-birth. A mini-tented city springs up on the banks of the river, the local government sets up a special administration, a massive police force is deployed, extra trains and buses are on a run.”

Throughout the days of the festival, pilgrims of different strata of society arrive from across India to bathe in the Ganga and partake of an accumulation of good karma, which they believe will contribute towards them breaking free from a cycle of reincarnation to ultimately attain their own nirvana, free of worldly concerns. Panjiar captures the opening day of this mela where 1.5 million pilgrims bathe together en masse.

Wandering minstrels

“Pilgrims, religious leaders, shopkeepers, merchants and wandering minstrels, stream in from all corners of the country. And then there are the sadhus, the rockstars of them all are the Naga Babas — stark naked, wild, irreverent, ascetics smoking hashish. They are raised as an army to protect the Hindu saints, they have become the centerpiece of the Kumbh, viewed with more awe than the religious leaders whose processions they grace,” explains Panjiar.

When you look at the pictures of multitudes in their own trance, replete with their own expressive echoes, you understand that Panjiar himself felt the gravitational pull of the earthly spectacle that distills everything that defines India. In these black and white images, you can sense the fervent drama and theatricality of Hindu worship and the medley of the many rituals that accompany singing, dancing and chanting of mantras.

Pilgrims’ hopes

“The majority of the pilgrims are poor people, who walk miles carrying their meagre belongings on their heads and shoulders, crossing the pontoon bridges, clutching on to a family member’s shawl or sari to avoid getting separated and lost,” says Panjiar.

“They will reach the river bank, camp out in the bitter cold night, cook their simple meals on cow-dung cake flames, prepared to bathe in the holy waters at the crack of dawn at the most auspicious moment. I saw transgenders singing songs for the naked Naga Sadhus in their camp, who in turn blessed the pilgrims milling around, while fellow travellers smoked hashish in an invocation to the God Shiva,” he adds.

And if you could ignore the loud and screeching announcements over the public address system, you would hear the sound of many different languages and dialects mingling in the air. A group of Kalpvasis (people who pledge to live and worship on the bank of the river for a month) freshly bathed in the river, heads shaved and draped in white, formed a tight circle in the crowd of 10 million people, to pray and sing to their God. It is India in its extreme diversity.

Cornucopia of ascetics

Prayagraj’s mela squeezes onto a floodplain where the Ganga meets the Yamuna. The first sight of its temporary tented city is simply unbelievable .

The mela draws tens of millions of pilgrims over the course of approximately 48 days to bathe at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati river. The congregation includes ascetics, saints, sadhus, sadhvis, kalpvasis and pilgrims from all walks of life.

“For all its complexity and enormity, the Kumbh is actually about the simplicity of faith that drives this massive enterprise. It is about how every person is able to make a connection with his belief while being part of such a large noise. You don’t have to be a Hindu, or even a believer, to relate to that idea,” concludes Panjiar.

Whether he captures sunrise or sunset, it is the spirit and the fervour of the aarti that beckons us. Amid the ageless, ritualistic fire purification ceremonies, performed by Brahmin priests on plinths alongside the Ganga, the  twirl of camphor lamps leave trails of fire in the blackness as the raucous sounds of souls filter through the night. An American priest who has become an ardent follower expresses his inner recesses. The Kumbh is many stories, many journeys and the power of the human spirit.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Writer: Uma Nair