Kumbh Mela exhibition

Pondicherry French Alliance and Aurodhan Gallery are presenting, from February 20th to March 20th, a photography exhibition about an exceptional event : Kumbh Mela 2010, at Maison Colombani.

Kumbh Mela is one of the largest religious gathering on earth and one of the most important Indian pilgrimage. Attended by millions of pilgrims, devotees and holy men/women irrespective of barriers of caste, creed, region, it is known as the most important pilgrimage gathering around the world.

This religious festival is celebrated four times every twelve years, the site of the observance rotating between four pilgrimage holy cities on four sacred rivers: at Haridwar (Uttarakand) on the Ganges River, at Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) on the Shipra, at Nasik (Maharastra) on the Godavari, and at Allahabad/Prayag (Uttar Pradesh) at the confluence of the Ganges, Jamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati.

In 2010, the fair has been held at Haridwar. The festival began on January 14 and ended on April 28. Jean- Pierre Muller, a passionate traveler and photographer, former Director or French Institute of Pondicherry, and Lalit Verma, founder of Aurodhan Art Gallery in Pondicherry, have experienced a travel to the Maha Khum Mela together. A nice photography exhibition was born from this trip. It will be displayed in Maison Colombani from 12 to 20th  February 2011.

We met Lalit Verma, to know more about their experience.

Can you tell us the origin and meaning of Khumb Mela?
The story of Kumbh Mela comes from Hindu mythology. This is the story of a fight between Gods and Demons, back to that period when the earth was just created, thousands of years ago.

Gods (Devtas) and Demons (Asura) resided on earth. Gods once lost their strength. In order to be purged out of their curse, Brahma (the creator) advised them to churn the milky ocean to obtain ‘amrit’ (divine nectar, elixir of immortality) from it. Since it was not an easy task, the gods and demons made a temporary agreement to work together. The nectar was to be shared equally between them.

They churned the ocean for 1000 years. Finally, when the pot containing the amrita appeared, the gods ran away with it. They did so because they never wanted the nectar to be misused by the demons. So they were chased by the demons and for twelve days and twelve nights (equivalent to twelve human years) the gods and demons fought in the sky for the possession of this pot of amrita.

During the struggle, it is said that drops of the ‘amrit’ fell on the earth at four different places. These four places are believed to be Allahabad (Prayag), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. The rivers in these four locations are thus considered extremely sacred by the Hindus, that is the reason why the Kumbh Mela is held is these four spots.

The name of the festival specifically relates to this story : it comes from Kumbh, which means “pot” or “pitcher” and Mela, which means “festival” or “fair”. Hence, the Kumbh Mela means “festival of the pot”.

So the fair is always held in the four same places over years?
Yes, Kumbh Mela pilgrimage successively happens in the four holy spots. And once every 12 years is held the Maha Khumb Mela (“Great Khumb Mela”), a biggest version of classic Khumb Mela. This Maha Khumb Mela is always celebrated in Haridwar, the holiest of Hindu cities. Located on the foothills of the Himalayas, this is one of the oldest cities of India which have continued maintaining what is known as the Gurukul tradition of learning (guru and disciples gathered in the same school). Haridwar has also been a major center of Hindu philosophy, culture and arts.

Was it your first Khumb Mela?
Yes, for me it was the first time! And it was an incredible experience... I have been to many kinds of gatherings and pilgrimages around India, but I had never experienced one Khumb Mela before.

How does it feel to find oneself in such a crowd?
For sure, there is a big crowd... A lot of Hindus but also tourists, journalists, National Geographic of course, etc... People are coming from everywhere in the world. There is no invitations, everyone is invited!
JP and me decided to go through the masses... It is very noisy, very warm, you have to walk hours and hours... There are tents spread everywhere, because a lot of people are staying several weeks or months during the festival. It is exhausting, but it is also incredible : we slept in an Ashram, or outside with other pilgrims, beggars and cows, we met and talked to a lot of people... and we could take nice shots!

Did you go there with a specific idea or goal running in your head?!
Personally, my own mission was to find a « wise man »... I wanted to go there and meet a man who would have reached a certain level of spirituality and wisdom. And I think I finally found him! He was an old sadhu, beautiful man with very soft expression. I asked him if he saw God and he told me he did. So I asked « Where is He? », and he just replied, while looking at me : « he is in front of me! », as if God where everywhere, spread in each person you can meet.
There was also an old lady who asked him about yoga and meditation. He asked her level and she said « I am still on the way... But where are we supposed to reach? ». Then he said, and that was very wise : « you have to reach back from where you came ». It means, to attain final liberation, you have to come back to the source of your origins. Same as the water cycle (water goes down with rain and is returning back up with evaporation), or as Ganga river that comes from and returns back to the Himalayas : this is the same travel for souls.

Finally, what was the most impressive during your stay? Something special?
One of the highlights of Kumbh Mela is the « Royal Bath » (« Shahi Snan »). On that special day, the water is said to turn to « Amrita » (the divine nectar) and bathing is supposed to purify pilgrims from their sins and liberate them from the cycle of rebirth.

During this event, the Naga Sadhus (“Naked Sadhus) have the privilege of taking the first dip into the water. They are very impressive : walking naked, covered with ash and with knotted large hair. They are often smoking marijuana to attain nirvana. We could take some nice pictures of these men : it was really beautiful...