Kumbh Mela
 
| ||||
Kumbh Mela venues |
Kumbh Mela ( Hindi कुंभ मेला kumbh melā , m., From Kumbh 'jug' and Mela 'festival', meaning "festival of the jug") is considered the largest religious festival in Hinduism and in the world.
mythology
The name “Festival of the Jug” has its origin in the legend of the “whisking of the milk ocean ”. The ocean of milk was whisked by devas (gods) and asuras (demons) at the beginning of time with the help of the serpent Vasuki as rope and the mountain of the gods Meru to filter out the nectar of immortality. This was carried by Dhanvantari in a round jug from the milk ocean. In the burning quarrel between gods and demons, four drops of the immortality nectar ( Amrita ) fell from the jar onto the earth. Today, the four locations are Prayagraj , Haridwar , Ujjain and Nashik , where the Kumbh Mela takes place. Whenever the celestial bodies Jupiter, sun and moon are precisely related to one another in certain aspects, Amrit manifests itself in the belief of the people in the waters of the Ganges at the respective points of the river and the pilgrims then take a bath in immortality. In general, bathing at so-called tirthas frees you from sins. Bathing on these astrologically favorable days is a million times more sin-free. Four cities take part in the rotation system, there are five different types of festivities and they take place in a three-year, six-year, twelve-year and 144-year rhythm.
history
The Kumbh Mela has been celebrated for a long time; however, it is first mentioned in the records of the Chinese traveler Xuanzang in the 7th century, who accompanied the ruler Harsha Vardhana in 644 AD to the Kumbh Mela in Prayag. He watched Hindus as well as Buddhists and Jains -Mönche at Triveni. The next mention is only in 1822 by Bahadur Singh Bhatnagar, when the Kumbh Mela remained half empty due to a pilgrimage tax. Information on the number of pilgrims bathing is found from 1906, when 2.5 million were at Mauni Amavashya. In 1918 there were 3 million, in 1930 4 million, but only 1.2 million in 1942, 6 million in 1954, 7 million in 1966, 10 million in 1977, 15 million in 1989, 30 million in 2001 and 34 million in 2013.
2017 Kumbh Mela was organized by the UNESCO in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity added.
Tradition and practice
The Great Kumbh symbolizes mankind's constant striving for knowledge and understanding. Some “knowing ones” live so withdrawn that they are only seen every twelve years during the great Kumbha Mela in Haridwar. The real purpose of the Mela is the ritual washing in a particularly holy place at a particularly favorable time. For these ablutions, so-called “royal processions” ( Shahi Snan ) of the sadhus take place on the main bathing days. On the main bathing day, Mauni Amavashya ( new moon day in January), an estimated 30 million pilgrims publicly bathed in Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna , the so-called Triveni Sangham ( Triveni : where three rivers meet - the Ganges and Yamuna meet the underground mythological river Sarasvati ).
The gathering of sadhus (holy Indian monks who are present throughout the Kumbh Mela and who come together from the most remote places in India) is the main attraction of the Kumbh Mela alongside the ablutions. For many of the Hindu orders , the Kumbha Mela is also the place for initiations and acceptance of students into their community. Traditionally, the first ablutions are reserved for the Naga Babas (that is, sadhus clad in nothing but a loincloth and holy ashes). There have been isolated incidents in the form of fighting between the Naga Babas and those who wanted to get into the water before them. The Naga Babas are traditionally warrior monks who helped defend the faith, including against Islam.
At the same time, podiums are held, the Dalai Lama speaks and politics is made. The yoga teachers of India protested in 2010 against the monumental dam projects planned by the Indian government, which threaten to turn the Ganges and its tributaries into a trickle.
| Location (state) |
flow | month | Purna | Ardh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Prayagraj ( Uttar Pradesh ) |
Ganges and Yamuna |
Magha माघ (Jan./Feb.) |
1989, 2001, 2013 2025 |
1983, 1995, 2007, 2019 |
|
Haridwar ( Uttarakhand ) |
Ganges |
Chaitra चैत्र (March / April) |
1986, 1998, 2010 2022 |
1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 |
|
Ujjain ( Madhya Pradesh ) |
Shipra |
Vaishakha वैशाख (Apr./May) |
1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 | 1986, 1998, 2010 2022 |
|
Nashik ( Maharashtra ) |
Godavari |
Bhadrapada भाद्रपद (Aug./Sep.) |
1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 | - |
literature
- Pilgrims: The festival of the nectar bowl. In: Geo . 4/1977. Verlag Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg 1977, pp. 42-54
Web links
- Amrit Nectar of Immortality, documentary about the Kumbh Mela 2010 in Haridwar
- Kumbh Mela, Mythology and Species, by Dr. Bernhard Peter
- Kumbh Mela Project 2001
- Simhasta Ujjain 2004
- Video Ardh Kumbh Mela 2007, Allahabad
- On the banks of the sacred rivers , documentary about the Kumbh Mela 2013
- Kumbh Mela 2019 at Prayagraj: photo documentary of the one of the world's largest religious gatherings.
Individual evidence
- ↑ amritfilm.net
- ↑ Dead and injured at the largest Hindu pilgrimage festival. In: tagesschau.de. February 11, 2013, archived from the original on February 11, 2013 ; Retrieved February 11, 2013 .