An Amazing Phenomenon Called the Kumbha Mela

An Amazing Phenomenon Called the Kumbha Mela

By Swami IshadhyananandaMay 2013

Editor – This article was published in the May 2013 issue of Prabuddha Bharata.

Excerpts from article

“The Akharas- One of the greatest attractionsof the Kumbha Mela is the differentakharas, which are thechief stakeholders of the mela.In fact, it can be said that theKumbha Mela is a festival ofmonks belonging to differentakharas. What is an akhara?An akhara, which literally

means a wrestling place, is likean organization of regimentedmonks. When India wasunder Muslim rule the sannyasinswere often attacked byMuslims mullahs and soldiers. To protect themselves,the monks of the Dashanami Sampradayarecruited militant monks from ordinary peopleas well as ex-soldiers. These militant monks werecalled Nagas, which means ‘naked’—they in factmaintain the tradition of remaining naked eventoday, with their bodies heavily smeared withashes; they undertake rigorous physical practices,learn fighting and the use of arms, dwell near templesor in huts, and come before the public onlyduring Kumbha Melas.

In order to take part in the procession for theshahi snan, which is a big affair and one of themain attractions of the mela, each monasterybelonging to the Dashanami Sampradaya should

be affiliated to a particular akhara. The ten ordersare: Aranya, Ashrama, Bharati, Giri, Parvata,

Puri, Sagara, Sarasvati, Tirtha, and Vana. Theyhave four headquarters in India: Joshi Math in

the north, Sringeri in the south, Dwaraka in thewest, and Govardhan Math in the east. Under

these four headquarters there are several monasteries,called maths or ashramas, that are affiliatedto one or the other akharas.

There are seven Shaiva akharas overlappingwith the Dashanami Sampradaya of monks:Agni, Atal, Avahan, Bhairava, Juna, Mahanirvani,and Niranjani. The head of an akhara iscalled the Acharya Mahamandaleshvar, or thePithadhish; he is a learned monk belonging tothe Dashanami Sampradaya and is elected by theMahamandaleshvarsfrom among themselves at

the time of a Kumbha Mela. Mahamandaleshvarsare the regional heads under an akhara. They tooare learned monks having a considerable followingof monastic and lay disciples. The akharas assumethe greatest role during the Kumbha Melas,as it is for the sake of securing a place in the processionfor shahi snan that the several Vairagiand Udasin akharas came into existence. DigambarAni, Nirvani Ani, and Nirmohi Ani are theVairagiakharas, and Naya and Nirmal are theUdasin akharas. These akharas, unlike the Shaivaones, do not have Naga or Dashanami sadhus.

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Some thoughts

Why did the U.P. Government nominate, Azam Khan, a Muslim minister to oversee arrangements at the Maha Kumbh? Not a word of protest from Hindus at his appointment! Liberals and seculars might argue in favor of the appointment. In which case, would they support the appointment of a Hindu to oversee a similar Islamic festival whose budget runs into thousands of crores?
Who is answerable for the death of 36 pilgrims at the Allahabad Railway Station? We forget such mishaps so fast i.e. why the Government does not care. To see read report
Given the significance of Allahabad to millions of Hindus should not the city revert to its original name i.e. Prayag?
Why has the UP Government not cleaned the holy rivers and surrounding areas after the Maha Kumbh. This Rediff reports has pics of how dirty it is now.
A lot of media hype was created because some students from Harvard University visited Prayag to study how the mela is organized. It was almost as if the Americans were giving us a pat on the back for organizing such a massive mela, at the same wondering how Indians could do it. The actual problem is that the U.S. is surrounded by sea on all sides, does not have much of a history and its citizens have limited exposure to the other parts of the world. So they find such melas fascinating because they see it through the western prism. Indians must not look up to the West for approval.