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??

Mauni Amavasya

Tomorrow is Mauni Amavasya, the most important day of bathing at the Kumbh Mela. According to official sources, more than three crore devotees are expected to take a dip at the sangam tomorrow, an administrative nightmare, for sure.

The day is also referred to as Maghi Amavasya, as it falls during the magh month of the Hindu calendar. Mauni refers to silence and Amavasya, refers to the first day of the new moon. Legend has it that this was the day, when the primordial couple, Manu and his wife Shatarupa (one with hundred beautiful forms), appeared on earth. Many refer Manu as Maharaja, or the great king while some refer him as rishi, or the sage. Manu is akin to Adam of Christianity. This is the same Manu, who was warned by Lord Vishnu of an impending flood, during the Matsaya avatar (This is Utkarsh Speaking: Vishnu's Dashavatar & Charles Darwin ...) and thus he is also referred to as the Hindu Noah, since god had chosen Manu to be saved along with the sapta-rishi, or the seven sages.

Manu along with the Sapta-rishis being rescued by Matsya

According to the epic Mahabharata, Manu was endowed with great wisdom. He was entrusted with the task of being the progenitor of the human race and his offspring are thus referred to as manus (mankind i.e. those who have manas, the ability to think). He is also supposed to have authored the Manav Dharma Shastra, or the Laws of Manu, better referred as Manu-smriti, a treatise which lays down the religious and social norms. The later Brahmins also ascribe the varna-pratha or the caste-system to Manu (This is Utkarsh Speaking: Caste System). However, some later day scholars have doubted this theory, questioning the logic of the progenitor prescribing one of his offspring to be inferior to others.

The most significant aspect of the day is the vow of silence, or maun-vrat. Silence has a special significance in all religions, be it Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity or Buddhism. Silence enables one to communicate with one’s own self. The external silence leads to an inner silence, a critical aspect of self-awareness or swadhyay. In modern times, modes of communication are a many, leading to non-stop talking. Man doesn’t get time to think and reflect. Silence creates this room for the much needed introspection and creates an awareness of one’s own thoughts. While we all know, that Silence is Golden, not many of us practice it. This day, enables one to reflect and introspect and seek the individual who is lost in a noisy world.

On a personal front, I have never kept silent, except when I am asleep or when I am left alone! While many around me would cherish the thought of a silent me, at least for a few hours, I might just try to maintain silence this time, on Mauni Amavasya, for want of an occasion to keep quiet! If nothing, it might enable my near ones to reflect on their own thoughts for a change!

Just to remind you, once again, tomorrow is Mauni Amavasya and may I add, it is also a Sunday!

Looking forward to a quieter world tomorrow!!

Kumbh Mela and the Naga Baba’s

In the last post, we discussed the origins and significance of the massive Kumbh Mela which is currently being held in Allahabad, India. Its sheer enormity and the gathering from all over the country and parts of the world, has intrigued many a foreigner, who come down to attend every Kumbh Mela in hordes. Besides the religious fervour, which is at its full display, there is another very intriguing aspect of the Mela and that is the Naga Baba’s, or the naked ascetics.

World over, they seem to be the most photographed and also the most discussed aspect of the fair. In some, they evoke a sense of faith, while in some they evoke a sense of intrigue while for some they evoke a sense of revulsion. Just who are these babas and why are they the way they are?

The Naga babas are notable by their appearance, they are naked, and have long, knotted and unkempt hair, with ash smeared all over their bodies. They do not wear a shred of cloth even in peak winters and keep themselves warm by smoking ‘chillum’ or local marijuana. Many of them carry trishul or the trident carried by Lord Shiva as they are all followers of Lord Shiva. Many are known to perform inhuman tasks and some of them are known for doing things that the modern day civilisation might term weird, like standing on one leg for decades or using only one hand, or sleeping on a bed of sharp nails or standing on their heads for days, so on and so forth.

If one observes them closely, one can find in them all aspects of Shiva, except for the nudity. The nudity is a sign of renunciation of all material possessions and a sign of lack of any human inhibition. It also shows that they have parted with worldly pleasures and nothing arouses them, both sexually as well as emotionally and are at one with their god. This is another aspect which distinguishes them from their Lord (Shiva), who is a much married and a family man with wife and children. However, this renunciation of the baba’s is to end to the cycle of life and death and attain salvation. The reverence given to them can be seen in the fact that the first dip in waters during the Kumbh Mela is allowed to them.

The Naga baba’s consider the god Dattatreya as their Guru (who was considered to be the first naga baba) and the Adi Shankaracharya is supposed to have organised them in akharas, or camps, some of them being the Udasins, the Gorakhnatis, the Aghoris and the Yogis amongst the main ones. They were brave and did not care much for their lives and thus have been part of regiments fighting the early Mughals and later British. This streak of aggression is found in many of these babas even today, and thus often referred to as the warrior-ascetics.

If anybody tells me that they get photographed due to their nudity, then I would like to say, that there is much more nudity (and aesthetic at that), elsewhere and the Naga babas are definitely not satisfying that voyeuristic need. It is their unique lifestyle and the way they are that arouses both a sense of wonder and a squeamish suspicion about the babas. Needless to say, that they also have a heavy following in terms of disciples many of who are amongst the rich and famous of India.

Many feel threatened and embarrassed by this uncanny focus on such people during the fair. To this I only have to say, that these men are the followers of an ancient faith and live in the past out of their own volition and the impression that they create cannot be interpolated on an entire country or a philosophy which has many aspects to feel proud of. I don’t see this even as an aberration, but just another aspect of the diverse fabric of a philosophy, better known as Hinduism.

Kumbh Mela

From today starts the famous and one of the largest religious congregations of the world, the Kumbh Mela (the fair of the pot). This event attracts millions of people from across the world and this year it could be much more as it is also the Maha Kumbh, the Great Kumbh, which takes place once in twelve years.

This event, as we all know has its origins in the famous mythical episode of the Amrita-manthan or samudra-manthan (churning of the ocean). But what many might not know is the reason for the churning. According to a legend, once Lord Indra came across Sage Durvasa (better known for his infamous temper). On seeing Indra, Sage Durvasa took out a garland from his neck and gifted it to Indra. Indra in his arrogance put the garland on his elephant, who obviously unaware of its importance trampled it under its feet. Seeing this, Sage Durvasa was angry and cursed Indra that he and his ilk, i.e. the other gods would lose all their strength and the position, due to this act of arrogance.

Soon, the gods were devoid of any energy and strength and seeing this, the asuras, attacked them and got the better of the gods. The gods assembled and sought help from Lord Brahma, who suggested the churning of the ocean, from which, would emerge the celestial physician, Dhanwantri who could save them with his divine potion or nectar, better known as amrita, the elixir of immortality. However, for this they would need the help of the asuras who were very strong. A discussion was held between the gods and asuras and it was decided that all would get a share of the amrita.

On churning, many riches emerged and so did Dhanvantri with the pot of amrita. On seeing this, the asuras tried to gain control of the pot, but Vishnu took the form of Mohini, the enchantress and ran away with the pot. While Mohini was trying to save the pot from the asuras, the pot spilt some drops of the amrita on Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, which have become the famous places of the Kumbh fair. It is said that the gods and the asuras fought for twelve days, which was equivalent to the twelve years on earth to gain control of the pot.

In the war between the gods and the asuras, three gods, Sun, Moon and Jupiter played a very important role in protecting the pot from the asuras. Since then, the Kumbha Mela is held to commemorate this event, and the dates are calculated on the basis of the planetary positions of Sun, Moon and Jupiter. The four places where drops of nectar had been spilt, are supposed to acquire divine powers on these days and bathing in the rivers on these days, washes away all the sins and one can achieve salvation. The fair is held every four years in the above regions and every twelve year is the Maha-Kumbh, like the one which is being held in Allahabad this year.

I don’t know if the sins are washed away on this day or not, but the massive congregation of believers on this day has something to do with faith. Braving the chilling winter and dipping in the cold waters can only be an act of faith and hope for salvation. How many achieve salvation is a statistics for god to maintain, but the Kumbh is definitely a visual treat even for the non-believer. It must be something, which made Mark Twain, in 1895 to comment –

“It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvellous to our kind of people, the cold whites.”

Some of the main dates for this year for bathing are as follows –

14 January – Makar Sankranti

27 January – Paush Purnima

6 February – Ekadashi Snan

10 February – Mauni Amavasya Snan (Main Bathing Day)

15 February – Basant Panchami Snan

17 February – Rath Saptami Snan

21 February – Bhisma Ekadashi Snan

25 February – Maghi Purnima Snan

For more on Makara Sankranti, read Makara Sankranti