We have been to Maha Kumbh 2013 – at Allahabad!

As I said in my earlier blog post that I never ever fancied about ‘Kumbh-Snaan’, but a phone call from my friend Zaroo - suggesting for it – turned out to be a good and exciting proposition. A few more calls and four of us – all from the engineering college we graduated (MANIT-Bhopal) - firmed up the date that suited us and we scheduled it to avoid the frenzied rush that normally takes place during ‘Shahi-Snaan’. Now I have an experience to share!

It was cold and drizzling when I landed at Lucknow airport, it concerned me. While, even a normal ‘Snaan’ at home during winter demands courage, the weather at Lucknow demanded further mental conditioning for the proposed ‘Kumbh-Snaan’ in the ice-cold water at ‘Sangam’. While waiting at the Airport,  I was just visualising about the ‘Kumbh-Snaan’ when I got call from Sanjay, who had come to pick me up. A little later, Zaroo too landed and Sanjay drove us to his home, elegantly designed!

Upon taking dip at Sangam, devotees normally visit Ayodhya too. Since we had spare half day with us, we did the other way. We visited Ayodhya, but we had to walk a few kilometres as vehicles were not allowed beyond a certain limit. We were impressed with the architecture of Kanak Bhavan and were a bit afraid of the monkeys who do not hesitate in raiding the devotees for food.

The next day we started for Allahabad – about five hours drive from Lucknow. Road is good and is under expansion- two lane road is being converted to four lanes. Journey in the company of friends was enjoyable with desultory talks and sharing the moments of college days, memorable ones. During the journey we called up many of our friends from the college days, to tell them that they were missing the fun – while we were having it. I swear, no one changes with time; one might mellow down a bit with age, but essentially remains the same. We enjoyed every moment on the way to Allahabad; but the uprooted old trees numbering in hundreds, cut into pieces and piled up in the fields alongside – made my heart ache. Decades old trees have been cut there for road expansion, did any one bother to plant at least the same number of trees, before they were cut? I don’t know.

 

As we approached Allahabad, hoardings and banners welcoming the devotees were visible all around. Posters of ‘Gangaa Bachaao Abhiyaan’ were also seen exhorting the devotees to not pollute the sacred river. Traffic thickened as we approached the ‘Sangam’ site and we had some difficulty in locating our tent colony. Constables of Traffic Police were busy in controlling the flow of traffic, ensuring that the regular flow of devotees do not choke the roads. Certainly, a hard task for the devotees as well as for the constables.  But, as we entered the tent colony campus of UP Tourism, we were delighted with the arrangements, cleanliness and the weather. Kamlesh joined us here and the ‘Sanagm’ of we four friends took place under the clear sunny sky, amidst sounds of bhajans and kirtans – reaching us from all directions! With the clear sky, fear of the cold weather no more bothered us. We were just excited for taking the holy dip – the next morning.

We had plenty of time at our hand on reaching the tent colony and as we had planned for Maha Kumbh Snaan on the next morning, we planned to go round the ‘Ghaat’  to have a feel of the ‘Maha Kumbh’. From our camp it was about two kilometres walk to the ‘Ghaat’. People of all age groups, different hues, languages and regions congregated at the bank of river Gangaa strengthening the mantra of  ‘unity in diversity’. From the congregation it was clear that most of the people who were there were from rural areas and my friend Kamlesh rightly commented – ‘Bharat desh Gaaon mein basataa hai’!

We went around the Ghaat, the tent area and the stalls – we were impressed with the general cleanliness all around! No foul smell, no filthy garbage, no overflowing septic tanks and no polythene in sight – something unbelievable!  It is worth appreciating and something to learn for each of us and for each of the municipal corporations of our country. Even with the overflowing population - day in and day out at this site – the administrators and those who are in charge – of maintaining cleanliness, safety and security of the area – need to be commended for the great job they are doing.

The sun was fast setting in, and with it the Ghat lit up with thousands of lamp posts all around – my friend informed us that – about 65,000 lamp posts are there to light up the area! We also wanted to have ‘darshan’ of the ‘Naga Sadhus’ and we could locate a few of them. I clicked a photo with my mobile and immediately one of the sadhus tersely warned me for my misadventure. I silently switched off my camera and we sheepishly strolled away – mission accomplished! We reached our tent with a sense of accomplishment. We celebrated our time together in the tent – first time tent night out for us.

The next morning we woke up early. We decided to skip breakfast and have ‘Maha Kumbh Snaan’ first. A Naik from army was there to escort us for the ‘Snaan’, a privilege we got due to one of my close relative who is serving in the army at a senior position. We were taken to Saraswati Ghaat, under the control of Army, to catch the motorboat for ferrying us to the ‘Sangam’ of Gangaa and Yamuna. Army has an elaborate arrangement for the family members and relatives of army men – makeshift tents with all the amenities for stay and ferrying them to and fro for the holy dip by motor boats, a real nice gesture and a reason to feel privileged! Life jackets are mandatory and proper record is maintained for all the passengers going thru army boats. We were ferried to the point where actual ‘Sangam’ of the two great rivers takes place. A long elevated temporary platform made of bamboo is there at the riverbed, which helps in anchoring the boats and for the devotees to change their dress and get down in the river for the holy dip.

The journey from ‘Saraswati Ghaat’ is scenic with the majestic Fort standing tall all along the river bank on one side and green trees lining the other side making a picturesque sight. At places the heavy walls of the Fort has collapsed and is in dilapidated condition, the authorities must be aware of it and I hope that restoration work would be taken up shortly and measures would be taken to safeguard the majestic Fort. White birds (seagulls!) in large numbers kept hovering around the motor boats, may be looking in anticipation at the devotees for throwing some edibles to them. By motor boat it was hardly fifteen minutes ride from the Ghaat to ‘Sangam’ point. It was a bright sunny morning with cool river breeze, very pleasant and the company of friends made it all the more enjoyable. As we approached the ‘Sangam’ we could clearly see the two different streams merging into one at the confluence! We were ecstatic. Immediately on reaching ‘Sangam’ we changed for the holy-dip. From the makeshift bamboo platform structure, where a number of devotees – men and women, young and old, high officials and the low ranked people shared the same space - we plunged into the  ‘Sangam’. Water was cold but not very cold, in fact, it was refreshing cold. We held our hands together, took a deep breath and dipped ourselves in the ‘Sangam’. It felt good, really good. We silently offered prayer. I prayed and wished for a peaceful society around us. Instantaneously a slogan came to my mind while having the Kumbh Snaan – Sabka saath ho, Durjanon kaa naash ho!

We bathed for quite some time and enjoyed the Sangam of two great rivers and of the great friends. I tried to swim too to impress my friends, but unfortunately, water was not deep enough! Yes, believe me, while we were on the riverbed almost at the centre of the confluence of the rivers– water was barely three to four feet deep! While swimming, many times my limbs touched the river bed! To me it is a matter of great concern – for the majestic Ganga and Yamuna are flowing with such little water. Though I do not know how deep it should have been there, but for sure – it is alarmingly shallow for the great Ganges. Are we not collectively responsible for such pathetic state of our rivers?

We left the ‘Sangam’ with great satisfaction for having a peaceful bath there. We are grateful to the army for making it enjoyable for us.

And it was time for us to say goodbye to Allahabad. Kamlesh departed for Kanpur and we three – me, Zaroo and Sanjay - left for Lucknow.

Next day in the early morning, Sanjay took us around Lucknow to get an overview of the city. Mughal architecture of old buildings like Bada Imaambaada is very impressive, they are well maintained.  Roads are wide. The development work undertaken by the erstwhile government looks impressive at first instance but other than providing beautification of the city, to me it doesn’t seem to add much value to the society. Lot of space in the city has been wasted unnecessarily in the name of car parking or open space – it needs to be covered by planting trees all around – making them work as a green belt for the city.

As our morning trip of Lucknow came to an end, Sanjay took us to a Joint for tea where Nehru and other top stalwarts used to meet and held strategic discussions over the tea. We too sipped tea and expressed satisfaction about the tea. Zaroo took full advantage of the hospitality of Sanjay and ordered for a maska-bun too. It reminded me of the hostel days. Old habits die hard!

It was time to say goodbye to Lucknow too! Me and Zaroo left for Delhi and from Delhi we proceeded for our respective homes.  Wow, what a lovely trip! Thank You Sanjay and Bhabhiji.

Can we make it again in 2025!!  I would love to be there again.