On from
Varanasi, I travelled to Allahabad, India to catch part of the month long festival of Kumbh Mela. The festival occurs every three years, however the Kumbh Mela that I visited, Maha Kumbh Mela, only occurs every 144 years. That meant more people and bigger and larger spiritual events.
Various activities occured on set days during the run of the festival. There were several bathing days where pilgrims from all over the world would come to bathe in the Ganges. Typically, Allahabad is a city of just over one million people. During the busiest bathing day, nearly 40 million people flooded the festival grounds and take turns washing in the holy waters of the Ganges.
To accommodate the crowd, a temporary city was built with basic utilities and tents, many of which were occupied by Hindu holy men - babas or sadhus. These men have chosen a distinct path towards enlightenment. Most were naked and many practice yoga or perform acts that push their bodies to the physical limits. A few that I met: a man that had not spoken in 20 years, a man that never put his arm below his head, a man that never sat down, a man that ate the meat of dead human bodies, a man that never went to the bathroom (this man was actually dead but his followers swore to vishnu he never went). Most of the sadhus smoke a lot of hash, sometimes they would become very playful and friendly, sometimes they would become fiercely angry and violent.
It would take pages of text for me to convey my experience at the festival so I'll try to sum it up, there were elements of college stoner culture, intense religious fervor, circus like sideshows, all mixed on top of India's wild and diverse culture.
As the title states, this thread has a lot of male nudity so you probably don't want to view this w/ your mom or at work. Ok, on to the greatest show on earth.
• Video Link
Thanks for taking a look. That wraps up Kumbh Mela, hope to catch the next one in a few years. Next stop, the deserts and lakes of Rajasthan.
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