Maha Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage event celebrated approximately every 12 years, correlated with the astrological position of Jupiter in the heavens, which corresponds to the time it takes Jupiter to make one revolution in its orbit around the sun.
Every 12th Kumbh Mela (approximately every 144 years) is a Maha (Great) Kumbh Mela, and the Maha Kumbh Mela is currently going on in India from January 13 to February 26.
It is said to be the largest religious gathering in the world. The last time around, in 2013, 120 million people attended the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, which is only one of the sites where this event is held; a total of 200 million people were said to have attended at all of the sites, and a staggering 400 million people are expected to participate this year. Dozens of people were trampled to death when the crowd got out of control a few weeks ago in Prayagraj on January 29.
Important participants in the Kumbh Mela are the naga sadhus, also called naga babas. They are holy men who have renounced all earthly possessions, including clothes (above). Unlike Western religions where nakedness is viewed as shameful, the nakedness of these holy men is considered admirable.
Another naga sadhu.
Above, a naga sadhu performing what I call the penis trick, where he wraps his penis around a pole. Sometimes it's wrapped around a sword, though I think in that case the sword is blunt, not razor-sharp. The purpose of this is supposedly to mortify the flesh to demonstrate a renunciation of lust.
Back to the Kumbh Mela event. The naga sadhus attend in large numbers. The most important part of the event is for them to bathe in the Ganges river, which is supposed to wash away all their sins. Above, some of the thousands of naga sadhus marching toward the river. Note that many of them are gray-colored, the result of covering their bodies with ashes, which is another way of mortifying the flesh.
There are certain special sites on the Ganges river where this happens. The most popular site is at Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, at the confluence of three rivers: the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the entirely mythical and imaginary Saravasti river (hey, nobody said that religion has to make sense).
Here are some naga sadhus bathing in the Ganges. Does it wash away their sins? I don't know, but it certainly washes away the ashes that they cover their bodies with.
And here are some naga sadhus, washed clean of ashes and of sins.
4 comments:
What a curious thing. BTW, the type size seems to be a little smaller than previously.
Yes, the type size does seem smaller. I have quite a fascination with these fellows. Of course, my big thing is all of those penises!!! In my research, I have discovered some interesting things about them. A number of them set up open air booths at these festivals and provide 'blessings' where they use a sort of wand to pat the person's head. The Sadhus are sitting so that the person being blessed is looking down right at the Sadhus' penis! Some of these booths are up higher where a person has a closer view of the Sadhus penis. What is extra interesting is that many believe that to be properly blessed, they must be HOLDING the Sadhus penis!!! I certainly could understand wanting blessings from lots of different Sadhus!!!
Rick and Gerald - I don't know why the type size was smaller. It was set to "normal", the size I always use. I just tried resetting it to "normal", and it was still too small. Then I reset it to "medium", the next larger size, which made it slightly too large, but that's better than too small. I don't know why Blogger is doing this. -Larry
Religion never takes women into account. Only men are special, it's a shame.
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