OPINION: Saving Water is also like a dip in Kumbh

Maha Kumbh Mela, held in Allahabad every 12 years and billed as the biggest religious gathering in the world, begins with millions of people from across the country as well as abroad expected to attend the religious gathering.

Whereas, Kumbh Mela is organised, every three years on a rotation basis, at Allahabad, Nashik or Nasik , Haridwar and Ujjain .  The major even of the festival is ritual bathing at the banks of the river  in whichever town it is being held that is Ganga in Haridwar, Gdavari in Nasik Kshipra in Ujjain and Sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati in Prayag ( Allahabad ).  Nasik has registered maximum visitor to 75 million. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardised. Kumbh Mela is the most sacred of all the pilgrimages.

A Holy bath during this period carries special significance. Those who take a holy bath in the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri acquire pious credits. For the holy men and women, this is the main bathing day. New members to various holy monastic orders receive their first initiation on this day.

On this day, Bhishma Pithamaha, the oldest, wisest, most powerful and most righteous person belonging to the Kuru dynasty (approx. over 5000 years ago), narrated the greatness of Lord Krishna through Sri Vishnu Sahasranama to Yudhishtira, the oldest brother of Pandavas.

We say water is life and without it life is desolate. Hardly there will be such  a big gathering in any part of the world.  Even then we don’t understand the importance of water.   The rivers have been so polluted that not only Ganga-Yamuna all rivers itself are sick.  The farmers of the areas where the rains are less, are worst affected at the cost of Water Parks and Rain Dance like entertainment sports.

Moreover, a major part of the population of the country still has to travel miles to fetch water while the other category of people make the use of water at their own, then how the significance of Kumbh would be maintained ?

In the old Hindi films there used to be stories like that  of two brothers separated in the childhood and united at Kumbh Melas.

55 days of Kumbh Mela is not a small period to make all arrangements by the administration as incidents of stampede is a matter of record in the history of these melas.  How for the administration is helpful to the pilgrims, only the time will tell?  At the same time, it is not only the responsibility of the administration; the people would also have to come forward to give a helping hand. 

Simply making a jointly dip in the river will relieve us from all our sins are interesting for the foreigners also. Some foreigners for the sake of peace and some by virtue of anxiety have also started participating in this Kumbh Melas.  No doubt the administration is well aware about all the arrangements but there is always a fear of any untoward incident.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of City Air News.)