By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist
Kumbh Mela reveals a side of Hinduism that is often not talked about. There are no temples, no gods, no devotion, no songs, no saints. It is primarily a ritual, dominated by boisterous masculine energy embodied in naked ascetics (digambara), covered with ash (bhabhut), with matted hair (jata), holding staffs (dandi), belonging to various gymnasiums (akhara), evoking the followers (gana) of the wild form of Shiva (Bhairava).
It is all about taking a dip in a particular spot in the river at the right time after it has been consecrated by bathing ascetics. We can argue that the roots are Tantrik, as it involves the body (tanu, in Sanskrit).
Such rituals happen in many parts of India, wherever ash-smeared ascetics congregate as part of rhythmic wanderings. These ascetics probably originated in east, in Terai region and challenged Vedic order which came from western Punjab region, around 1000 BC. They clashed at Gangadwar, now called Haridwar. This event is captured in the story, first narrated in Mahabharata, of ascetic Shiva beheading Daksha, the Brahmin patriarch. Since then, these ascetics (some who carry skulls) have been known by many names: Pashupata, Kapalika, Kalamukha. But they changed over time, becoming milder, influenced by later ideas like Nathism, Vaishnavism, even Sikhism. Currently, they are called Naga (from nagna or naked).
The calendar of wandering ascetics was determined by the movement of moon (every month), sun (every year) and Jupiter (every 12 years) through the Zodiac. It was known as Kumbh in Haridwar and Simhastha in Nashik when Jupiter was in Aquarius (Kumbh) and Leo (Simha) constellations. Calling all gatherings as “Kumbh” and linking it to “nectar of immortality” is a conscious branding effort that began after 1857, to reaffirm the Hindu identity, threatened by the new British regime.
The akharas typically trace their origin to Adi Shankaracharya, who played a major role in popularising Vedanta in 8th century. He opposed Buddhism, not Islam. Stories of Adi Shankara’s wanderings, resistance and debates were codified much later, only in 13th century, by Brahmin scholars of Vijayanagar Empire, who saw Hinduism being threatened by the arrival of Turks from Central Asia.
The warrior-ascetic tradition of Hinduism, though ancient, became prominent after 1500 AD, in reaction to rising power of Islam. The mystical musical Sufis were mirrored by mystical musical Sants of Hinduism. The militaristic Ghazis were challenged by aggressive Nagas. These Nagas protected trading caravans and in exchange received patronage of kings and merchants. This happened in river basins of Ganga (Haridwar, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ujjain) and upper Godavari (Nashik), which were contested zones in 18th century between waning Mughal power and waxing Maratha rule. Words like Shahi and Peshwai, reveal Persian-Maratha influence. This culture is not so prominent in South.
For ascetics, celibacy was key. As was caste, but that is currently downplayed. This celibacy was not mere renunciation of worldly life, as preached by Buddhists and Jain monks. This was about power (siddhi) obtained by retaining and ritually charging bodily fluids and then using power of mind and mantra to push fluids up the spine to germinate inside the head. Only men could do it. This granted them occult powers to walk on water, fly through the air, travel on wild animals, change shape and form, and control the minds of people. These were the original “Jedi” masters. The rituals are explicitly depicted in Tantric Buddhist art of the Himalayan region. So the warrior-ascetics were seen as containers of great power and sought after by kings who could use them for military glory.
These medieval ideas, popular since the time of Adi Shankaracharya, are today downplayed, even forgotten. What is remembered is that the power of these warrior-ascetics is present in their bodily fluids. This is soaked by the special cow-dung ash smeared on limbs which gets washed off during the “Shahi Snan.” This makes the water special — nectar-like — capable of transforming one’s health and fortune. The potency is increased by the perfect alignment of stars and planets, at the grand confluence of three rivers — the Ganga, which came from the sky, the terrestrial Yamuna and the subterranean Saraswati.
The Kumbh Mela is distinctly male, ascetic, ritualistic, occult, military and royal in nature. It is about displays of Hindu power. It is about the mighty Bhairava of the mountains, the mighty Hanuman of the forests and the mighty Dattatreya of the plateaus. We can couch it with Vedic words like atma (soul) and moksha (liberation) and dharma (order), but it is primarily about siddhi (power) and shakti (power), revealed in the Tantras.
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