Maha Kumbh Mela 2013

The Maha Kumbh Festival is held every 12 years at the banks of the Sangam where the Ganges meet with Yamuna and the mythical river Saraswati.

Transcript

00:00For the millions who descend upon the world's largest pop-up city of Mahakumbnagar, these

00:11pontoon bridges and sandy riverbed pathways are roads to moksha and salvation, a break

00:17from the cycle of life and death.

00:21Devotees from far-flung corners of India arrive at Sangam, where India's mighty Ganges meets

00:26Yamuna and mythical river Saraswati, a confluence considered to be one of the holiest sites

00:32of the country.

00:34For the devotees, the pilgrimage involves a simple act of taking a dip in Sangam waters,

00:39which Hindus believe possess divine properties when planets are in a specific formation every

00:44twelve years.

00:49Mahakumbnagar in Allahabad city is a no-vehicle zone, and pilgrims walk up to 30 km to reach

00:56Sangam waters, a brave crowd density that reaches unprecedented levels during the main

01:02bathing days.

01:06On February 10 alone, around 35 million people were present during a 24-hour period.

01:13Officials estimate that around 100 million will visit the festival, making it the world's

01:18largest gathering of humanity.

01:20While pilgrims come and go during the Mahakumb festival, the Naga sadhus or ascetics who

01:26leave their retreats in the Himalayan foothills spend weeks in this density during the festival.

01:33These ascetics are both feared and revered by pilgrims who seek their blessings for abundance

01:38and prosperity.

01:40Managing this sea of humanity is a humongous task, and around 30,000 policemen and over

01:46100,000 officials are deployed to this density, which spreads over 2,000 hectares.

01:56The mass bathing pilgrimage of Mahakumb began on January 15 and will end on March 10, when

02:03officials will begin dismantling the estimated 700,000 tents, electricity grids, sanitation

02:10networks, police stations, hospitals and much more.

02:15All that was built must be taken down before the mighty Ganges begins to reclaim the riverbed

02:20in the coming months leading up to the monsoons.