Ganga-Sagar Mela

Kapil Muni Temple at Sagardwip

Today is Makar Sankranti; a day when the sun makes a transition northwards to Capricorn from Sagittarius (Read more in This is Utkarsh Speaking: Makara Sankranti )

Besides maker sankranti, this day is also known for the famous Ganga-Sagar mela, a fair which is second only to the famous Kumbh Mela (For more on Kumbha Mela, This is Utkarsh Speaking: Kumbh Mela). Ganga-sagar mela, or the fair of the river Ganga and the sea, is however an annual event, unlike the Kumbh Mela. Ganga-sagar mela is held at Sagardwipa, the confluence of the river Ganga and the Bay of Bengal and on this day millions of devotees take a dip at the holy confluence to seek salvation from the cycle of birth-death-rebirth.

Not far from the confluence is a temple dedicated to Kapil Muni and the pilgrims make it a point to visit the temple after taking a holy dip at the confluence. Let us know Kapil muni a little better.

According to a myth, King Sagar of Ikshvaku dynasty of Ayodhya had organized ninety-nine Ashwamedha yagnas. During the hundredth one, the sacrificial horse was let loose, as was the practice. The horse was followed by sixty thousand sons of King Sagar, who fought the opponents valiantly and had made King Sagar the head of a huge empire. Seeing King Sagar presiding over a massive empire, Indra felt intimidated and he hid the horse inside Kapil Muni’s ashram, who was meditating at that moment. When the sons saw the horse at the ashram, they assumed that the muni had stopped their horse. They were

Kapilmuni idol at the temple

angry, but since they could not kill a sage, they started to disturb him. This angered Kapil muni and cursed them to be burnt to ashes and within no time, the sons were a heap of ashes.

Anshuman, the grandson of King Sagar learnt about the death of his father and uncles and approached Kapil muni to seek a way for their salvation. Kapil Muni suggested that the only way to the salvation of their souls, was by getting the river Ganga to flow on earth, however that would need to propitiate the holy trinity and other deities too. Later, Bhagirath, the only great-grandson of King Sagar decided to perform the final rites of the sons of King Sagar.

Bhagirath undertook severe penance to appease all the gods and finally Ganga agreed to descend on earth. However, her torrential force needed to be held; else all on earth would blow away in her forceful descent. Lord Shiva’s entangled hair was the only way, to arrest the force of the river, and by the time it managed to find its way out of his locks, the river would have lost its force significantly. Lord Shiva is thus referred to as Gangadhar, in this form, where he accepts Ganga in his locks.

Gangadhar

Before heading towards the sea, the river Ganga washed over the heap of ashes of King Sagar’s sons, leading to their salvation. It is said, that Kapil Muni had his ashram not far from the confluence. The local lore says that earlier the temple of Kapil muni was far away from the present day spot of the fair and the waters would recede on the Makar sankranti day enabling pilgrims to get a view of the temple. From the very next day of the sankranti, the waters would start moving in and the temple would be submerged for a year till the next sankranti. (There aren’t too many people alive to vouch for the veracity of this, though). Today, a permanent temple of Kapil Muni stands on firm ground. Ganga came to earth due to the efforts of Bhagirath and thus sometimes the river is also referred to as Bhagirathi.

An interesting aspect of this myth is that it was said that King Sagar had an ambition of become a Charavarti, one who is the ruler of a large empire, but had a tough time and failed in his final attempt. He had to bear the sad news of the death of his sixty thousand sons. His sixty thousand sons too had the same aggression of his. The grandsons of King Sagar, Anshuman and Dilip, undertook penances to get Ganga to flow on earth, but they too did not achieve their objective. Bhagirath, renounced everything and performed severe penance at the Himalayas and attained his objective as he was devoid of ego and greed. Many say that the later rulers of the Ikshvaku dynasty bore resemblance to Bhagirath, one of them being Ram of Ramayan.

Ganga-Sagar mela in West Bengal is considered to be one of the major festivals and pilgrims come from far and near. A popular adage says, ‘saare tirth baar-baar, ganga-sagar ek baar’, meaning all pilgrimages can be undertaken more than once, but ganga-sagar can be undertaken only once. While I am not sure if this has any religious reason to it, one thing for sure is that the infrastructure to reach and return from the pilgrim spot is extremely poor. The place has received no attention from the tourism perspective and everything is in a state of wanting. The religious significance and that too for only one day, with no decent and adequate accommodation facilities, the fair turns a nightmare at times.

But what are a few irritants on the way to achieve salvation? If Bhagirath could endure penances for his ancestors in the Himalayas, and get the heavenly Ganga to flow on earth, cant the modern day devotees undertake a few hardships to achieve their own salvation??

Chhath Puja

Chhath (literally means sixth) is celebrated on the sixth day of the month of Kartik from the Hindu calendar. It is also the sixth day after Diwali. This is a very important festival for the people of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and is also considered to be one of the few major festivals in the honour of Sun god.

During the Vedic times, Surya, the Sun god was one of the main deities in the pantheon of gods. Thus this festival seems to have its continuity and significance from the Vedic times. Before we venture into the myths surrounding this festival, it is pertinent to mention that this worship has similarity with a number of other cultures like Egypt, Greece and the Japanese who were the worshippers of Sun God. Egyptian god Ra, or Helios of the Greeks, or Shamash of the Sumerians, or the Japanese worshiping a Sun Goddess (only reference of Sun Goddess), were all major solar deities of reckoning.

Sun worship goes back to the Vedic age, with numerous hymns dedicated to Lord Surya in Rig Veda. The earliest reference of Chhath is found in Mahabharata which is credited to Karna, who was the son of Surya and Kunti and was also known as Surya Putra. Karna was made the King of Anga Pradesh, by Duryodhan, which is supposed to be the present day Bhagalpur in Bihar, and thus the prominence of the festival in and around the region.

Mahabharat also refers to Draupadi’s worshiping of Surya when the Pandavas were going through their share of trouble. Though Draupadi did not get any immediate results out of the worship, but they did regain their rights and their kingdom at the end of it. Thus began the practice of worshiping Surya for achieving something or some desire.

The unique thing about Chhath puja is that it is probably the only festival, where the Sun is worshipped in both the forms, i.e. both the rising as well as the setting. Since the river Ganga is the lifeline of the states mentioned above, as it flows throughout the region, the worship takes place at the banks of the river Ganga. Needless to say that Ganga has its own significance both in Mahabharat as well as in the Hindu religion. The practice of this worship has its yogic connections. It is said that in the Vedic times there were sages who would fast for unbelievable periods, and that the ability came from their gaining solar energy directly from the Sun. It is said that the rituals followed during the worship are quite similar to what the yogis of yore followed then.

As part of the ritual, people (especially women) observe fast and end up spending the whole day (sunrise to sunset) at the banks of the river. In this lies the significance of the festival. This whole day is used in a ritualistic detoxification of the body. The fasting followed by the sun rays especially during sunrise and sunset, gives an extra impetus on the different parts of the body and the much needed energy from the sun. As per the Yogis of the yore, sun helps in rejuvenating the skin and its rays at different times of the day, helps in improving the functions of different glands and their secretions.

Such festivals not only get people to spend time together, but also lead to some physical well-being. It is different matter that some sections of the society have misused such festivals for political positioning, but then what is a community if it doesn’t have its own share of both good and bad?