The Holiest Day in History

As conch shells and cymbals sounded, the first flower-decked palanquin, bearing the leader of Hinduism's Maha Nirvana sect, moved toward the river bank near Allahabad where the Yamuna River meets the Ganges. Alongside marched a troop of elephants, trumpeting, their heaving bodies covered with garlands and painted symbols. Then through the police cordon flowed thousands of pilgrims from nine other ancient Hindu sects. Among them came a procession of Naga sadhus, celibate holy men who follow Shiva, the god of the forces of both life and destruction. They were all naked, except for a coating of sand and ashes, to proclaim that they have no desire for earthly possessions.

At 2:30 a.m. last Wednesday, the most auspicious moment fixed by astrologers, the first of the sadhus waded into the shallow, chilly waters. Facing eastward with their hands folded, they prayed and submerged themselves several times before giving way to the next group. The leaders then repaired to their compounds, where they were receiving swarms of alms-giving devotees.

This is the Kumbh Mela (Jar Festival), by far the largest religious pilgrimage in the world. At the high point of the observance last week, an estimated 10 million people dipped themselves in the waters. By the time the five sacred weeks end on Feb. 5, about 50 million pilgrims will have participated, most of them humble villagers who travel from all regions of India.

This year, with a budget of $7 million to maintain order, Indian authorities have erected control towers so that they can survey the milling crowds and prevent disasters like the 1954 stampede in which 513 people died. They have ordered that all pilgrims must be inoculated against cholera, and 1,000 workers have been assigned just to spray antiseptics. Beggars have been banned. All day and all night blaring hymns on the loudspeaker system are interrupted by announcements about missing people (2,000 of them a day).

Wash Sins. Devout Hindus bathe in the Ganges all year long to wash away their sins, but the spiritual effect of the ablutions is considered most potent during the festivals that are held at twelve-year intervals on one of four sites. The Kumbh Mela at Allahabad is the most blessed, for here the Ganges meets not only the Yamuna but the Saraswati, a legendary underground river. This spot is known as the Sangam (sacred confluence). Some holy men, moreover, deem the current configuration of the sun, moon and stars to be exactly the same as at the creation of the world, making last Wednesday the holiest day in all of history for bathing at the sacred confluence.

The Jar Festival draws its name from the jar of nectar in the Hindu creation story. The gods had fallen under a curse and had lost their strength. In order to regain it, they had to produce life-giving nectar by churning up oceans of milk. Lacking the energy to do so, they sought the help of their enemies, the demons, and offered them some of the nectar in return. When a jar of miraculous nectar finally appeared, the demons seized it and the gods pursued them. During the cosmic struggle, some drops from the jar of nectar fell at the sacred confluence and three other sites. Every twelve years, it is believed, the nectar returns to sweeten the waters.

At one time, each devotee performed an elaborate bathing ceremony that took up to a month, but with millions now in attendance such rituals are impossible. Most ordinary worshipers simply float a coconut shell with offerings to the local deity, take the "holy dip," and fill small metal vials with Ganges water to take away.

Though any dip in the Ganges washes away all previous sins, the Kumbh Mela offers an incomparably greater benefit. As the ancient poet Kalidas said, "Purified by a bath at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna, a person attains salvation after death even without acquiring true knowledge." For last week's pilgrims, this means that at death they will at last escape the endless cycle of birth and rebirth, and enter the bliss of union with the absolute.

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