It wasn’t planned, but it was a great opportunity. I threw together a few essentials, jumped on a rickety Indian bus, scrambled for one of the last remaining seats, and sat through a violently bumpy twelve-hour overnight journey. It was a tad uncomfortable but I accepted it as part of the experience. As we arrived at 6.00am in a chilly Allahabad, the thick fog began to disperse, and the sun rose to reveal one of the greatest congregations of human beings in any one place: “Kumbha Mela”. Held every 12 years, the festival attracts faithful pilgrims, inquisitive spiritual seekers, destitute beggars, famed yoga masters, and extreme ascetics rarely seen by the rest of civilisation. This year, over 80 million people will be magnetically drawn to this spiritual melting pot. No other religious gathering comes close to it in terms of scale.
Spiritual Melting Pot
Spiritual Melting Pot
Spiritual Melting Pot
It wasn’t planned, but it was a great opportunity. I threw together a few essentials, jumped on a rickety Indian bus, scrambled for one of the last remaining seats, and sat through a violently bumpy twelve-hour overnight journey. It was a tad uncomfortable but I accepted it as part of the experience. As we arrived at 6.00am in a chilly Allahabad, the thick fog began to disperse, and the sun rose to reveal one of the greatest congregations of human beings in any one place: “Kumbha Mela”. Held every 12 years, the festival attracts faithful pilgrims, inquisitive spiritual seekers, destitute beggars, famed yoga masters, and extreme ascetics rarely seen by the rest of civilisation. This year, over 80 million people will be magnetically drawn to this spiritual melting pot. No other religious gathering comes close to it in terms of scale.