Curtain goes down on the Maha Kumbh marvel

Curtain goes down on the Maha Kumbh marvel
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

KUMBH NAGAR, FEB 21: As curtains go down on the Maha Kumbh Mela 2001-- the largest human spiritual confluence so far -- after the bath of `Maha Shiv Ratri', the world will now be divided into two: those who have seen it and those who haven't.

And arguably the `haves' are in the majority, with millions having experienced it directly or otherwise through images in television, internet streams, newspapers and magazines the world over.

The 44-day spiritual carnival that formally started on Januray 9 on `Paush Poornima' culminates today, again only formally, as devotees will continue to take a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the Saraswati.

Six bathing days, over three crore devotees, a new township with hundreds of thousands of administrative and security professionals: Kumbh was a mela of sheer numbers.

Coming after 12 years with planetary positions that repeat only once in 114 years, Maha Kumbh 2001 in Allahabad will go down in history as one of the most peaceful, most photographed and relatively incident-free spiritual gatherings on earth.

An estimated 30 lakh devotees took the holy dip on the first day in the chilling waters on the occasion of Paush Poornima followed by Makar Sankranti five days later when 80 lakh people `cleansed' themselves.

After that their numbers only swelled with two crore people converging at Kumbh on Mauni Amavasya on January 24, and one crore people on the Vasant Panchami day.

Another big occasion was Maghi Poornima on February 8.

The `Shahi Snan' or royal bathing days of Makar Sankranti, Mauni Amavasya and Vasant Panchami stole the limelight, both in terms of numbers and the opulance and fanfare that accompanied them.

The cynosure of the event were the Naga Sadhus, ashen naked ascetics numbering only some thousands, but the darlings of lensmen for their sheer vitality and, well, nudity.

The overt media attention to the levels of undress in the Mela drew flak and the administration ended up sending circulars against crossing the limits of civility while capturing an essentially spiritual event. This in turn spiralled into a show-down between the police and media as also the subsequent dharnas and boycots by newsmen.

Equally explosive was the political significance of the event, as the largest human gathering became an occasion for the Hindutva forces to score a point.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad sponsored Dharam Sansaddeclared the date of beginning construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya, thereby earning Kumbh a mention in India's political history books as well.

This time with all the cameras of the world clicking,ny a National leader ensured their presence in Maha Kumbh besides the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama who spent two days in Kumbh nagar.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi took a 'symbolic dip' atthe Sangam. Communists were around too, with CPI-ML holding a parallel Sansad blasting those who 'tried to make political mileage' of the Maha Mela.

Another presence the administrators successfullyprevented were the potential saboteurs. Admittedly there was a threat perception of terrorist attack, which thankfully did not mar the proceedings.

The Mela administration let out a sigh of relief as thebathing days passed off peacefully without any attack, terrorist or otherwise, or petty sqabbles.

That way the administration even managed consensusbetween the Niranjani, Juna and Niravani akharas who were traditionally at loggerheads over would take the dip first.

And if the mela went off peacefully, the credit shouldequally go to the crores of common devotees or 'kalpawasis' and Karma trekkers from all world, who conducted themselves peacefully, despite the ardous journey, limited facilities and piecemeal diets.

Being the first post-globalisation and post-internetevent, MahaKumbh 2001 was held under the media glare, which however, faded as attention changed to Gujarat quake that rocked India on Republic day. It affected most the Juna Akhara, the abode of many of the Naga Sadhus, which is headquartered in Gujarat.