Memories of Kumbh Melas past: When pilgrimage wasn’t about profit

In 1918, gramps was 31 years old. In the decades that followed, helium achieved large favoritism successful the ineligible assemblage and participated successful the state question arsenic a faithful follower of Gandhi ji. After Independence, helium occupied immoderate of the country’s highest governmental offices. He returned to his karmabhumi, Allahabad (now Prayagraj), successful 1962, from Bhopal wherever helium was Madhya Pradesh’s main minister; helium mislaid his spot successful the elections held that year. Four years aboriginal came the 1966 Kumbh Mela; helium was 78 years old, suffering from galore ailments. On the greeting of a insignificant “nahan” day, his operator came to maine and said: “Babu ji is going to the Sangam and helium has said that you volition travel him”. I was 14 years old.

Our car was stopped astatine the archetypal car park. From there, it was implicit 3 kilometres to the Sangam. Grandfather and grandson, on with the different lakhs of pilgrims, made their mode to the Triveni. On the mode to and aft a dip successful the life-giving waters of the Sangam, each the mode backmost to the car, gramps related to maine the past of the what helium called the “Hindu race”, of Kumbh Melas and of India. The multitudes successful the Mela grounds, the overwhelming fig of whom were clad successful dhotis and saris, were inspiring him and done his words, helium intelligibly wanted me, his youngest paternal grandson, to summation the unchanging condemnation that these were his ain people, that helium indispensable ne'er see himself chiseled from them and indispensable ever service their interests. Two years later, gramps was gone but the representation of that sojourn to the Sangam and grandfather’s words person ever remained with me.

India has metamorphosed successful the decades since the 1966 Kumbh — truthful has the Kumbh Mela. It whitethorn beryllium a pilgrimage for crores of devout Hindus inactive but it is besides a portion of the government’s imaginativeness of promoting spiritual tourism. This was the archetypal Kumbh Mela organised nether the ruling dispensation which is successful powerfulness some successful Delhi and Lucknow. It would truthful beryllium due to analyse the transportation betwixt pilgrimage oregon (Tirth) and spiritual tourism. That the Narendra Modi authorities is committed to enhancing spiritual tourism is borne retired by the Ministry of Tourism’s relationship of the PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive) scheme. The Ministry states that the “This strategy focuses connected processing and identifying pilgrimage sites crossed India for enriching the spiritual tourism experience. It aims to integrate pilgrimage destinations successful a prioritised, planned and sustainable mode to supply a implicit spiritual tourism experience. The maturation of home tourism hugely depends connected pilgrimage tourism”.

There tin beryllium nary quarrel with the government’s nonsubjective of improving facilities, including access, communications, sanitation and health, astatine the ineffable places of each the radical of India. There is besides nary occupation with the authorities incurring expenditure successful assisting the organisation of specified occasions specified arsenic the Kumbh. Indeed, it is the work of the authorities to guarantee the attraction of instrumentality and bid and the orderly behaviour of specified spiritual events successful practice with spiritual and spiritual leaders. The occupation arises erstwhile the concepts of pilgrimage and tourism are mixed together. Why?

The entity of pilgrimage is spiritual and a pilgrim undertakes its rigours for, arsenic gramps noted, “sacred” purposes. Indeed, it tin beryllium asserted that if a pilgrim seeks to bypass, done his wealth oregon authoritative power, the difficulties which an mean pilgrim experiences, past helium is not a pilgrim astatine all. At these places and earlier a deity successful a temple, determination should beryllium nary favoritism connected immoderate account. Thus, the signifier of designated places successful the Mela crushed for officials and the affluent — arsenic it was done successful this Kumbh Mela but began connected a smaller ground earlier — goes against the atom of pilgrimage and is portion of a tourism whose nonsubjective is profit.

The quality coming from this Kumbh Mela is that it promoted spiritual tourism successful a large way. This was close from structure cities wherever the outgo of a structure went up to thousands of rupees per time to nutrient courts wherever pizza outlets belonging to planetary brands and well-known java shops were contiguous for the good healed. They could not evidently tolerate the accepted fare which has been disposable astatine the Kumbh Mela for centuries.

The information is that Hindu pilgrimage and spiritual tourism are lipid and water.

The writer is simply a erstwhile diplomat