From Dusk till Dawn
My Mahakumbh Mela was in 2013 at Allahabad, where the waters of the Ganges, Jumna and Saraswatis rivers meet. It was my first time in India, and my first time among such a large crowd of many thousands of people. It was the biggest gathering I have ever seen. People come from all over the country, just to be there and bathe in the river. For millions of them it is the bath of their life, a bath that will cleanse them of all sins; that’s why it worth such a long trip to witness.
The rituals begin at dusk with a processional march. A parade of musicians, horses, elephants and most of all the naked sadhus painted with ashes. The tension for the first bath grows with each passing hour and it blows at the dawn with the dip of the monks. After that, the festival day opens to pilgrims, and you can clearly feel all their happiness and gratitude toward their God who has allowed them to live that moment.
