Haridwar Kumbh Mela
Haridwar Kumbh Mela | |
---|---|
Har ki Pauri in Haridwar on 14 April 2010 | |
Status | active |
Genre | Fair, Religious gathering |
Frequency | Every 13 years |
Venue | Banks of Ganges |
Location(s) | Haridwar, Uttarakhand |
Coordinates | 29°57′29″N 78°10′16″E / 29.958°N 78.171°E |
Country | India |
Previous event | 2021 |
Next event | 2033 |
Participants | Akharas, pilgrims and merchants |
Sponsor | Government of India, Government of Uttarakhand |
Website | kumbhmelaharidwar |
Haridwar Kumbh Mela is a
The Haridwar Kumbh Mela had happened from 1 April to 30 April in the year 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] An Ardh Kumbh ("Half Kumbh") Mela is held six years after a Kumbh Mela. The last Ardh Kumbh Mela took place in 2016.[4]
Early records
Haridwar is one of the four sites of Kumbh Mela, the others being
The fair at Haridwar appears to be the original Kumbh Mela, since it is held according to the astrological sign Kumbha (Aquarius), and because there are several references to a 12-year cycle for it.[6] The Haridwar Kumbh Mela dates at least from the early 1600s. The earliest extant texts that use the name "Kumbha Mela" are Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh (1695) and Chahar Gulshan (1789). Both these texts use the term "Kumbh Mela" to describe only Haridwar's fair, although they mention the similar fairs at Allahabad (the annual Magh Mela) and Nashik (the Simhastha).[7] The Kumbh Mela at the other three places seems to be an adaptation of Haridwar's Kumbh Mela to the pre-existing local festivals.[8]
The Muslim conqueror Timur invaded Haridwar in 1398, and massacred a number of pilgrims, possibly at a Kumbh Mela.[9]
Mughal era
Dabestan-e Mazaheb (c. 1655) of Mohsin Fani mentions a battle at Haridwar between competing akharas in 1640, possibly at a Kumbh Mela.[10][11]
The Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh (1695), mentions the mela in its description of the
The Chahar Gulshan (1759) also states that the mela at Haridwar is held in the
By the mid-18th century, the Haridwar Kumbh Mela had become a major commercial event in north-western India.[10]
Maratha era
The 1760 festival saw a violent clash between the
1783: Cholera epidemic
A cholera epidemic broke out during the 1783 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.[18] An estimated 1–2 million visitors attended the fair this year. Out of these, more than 20,000 died of cholera within the first eight days. The epidemic was confined to the Haridwar city and ended with the fair. The neighbouring village of Jwalapur (now a town), which was around 8 miles away from the city, did not see any cases of cholera.[19]
1796: Massacre of the Shaivites
The first eyewitness British account of the Kumbh mela was an article by Captain Thomas Hardwicke in Asiatick Researches. At this time, Haridwar was part of the Maratha territory. Based on a register of taxes collected from the pilgrims, Hardwicke estimated the scale of the mela at 2-2.5 million people. According to Hardwicke, the Shaivite Gosains were the most dominant, "in point of numbers and power". The next most powerful sect were the Vaishnavite Bairagis. The Gosains carried swords, shields and managed the entire Mela. Their mahants held daily councils to hear and decide on all the complaints. The Gosains levied and collected the taxes, and did not remit any money to the Maratha treasury.[20]
The
Company rule
In 1804, the Marathas ceded the Saharanpur district (of which Haridwar was a part at that time) to the East India Company. Before the Company rule, the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar was managed by the akharas (sects) of Hindu ascetics known as the sadhus. The Marathas taxed the vehicles and goods coming to all other melas, but during the Kumbh Mela, they temporarily transferred all the power to the akharas.[23] The Sadhus were both traders and warriors. Besides collecting taxes, they also carried out policing and judicial duties. The Company administration severely limited the trader-warrior role of the Sadhus, who were increasingly reduced to begging.[24]
- 1808 Kumbh Mela
- East India Company geographer Captain Francis Raper published an account of the 1806 Kumbh in Asiatick Researches. To prevent a re-occurrence of the 1796 violence, an armed detachment of "greater strength than usual" was deployed.[25] Maharaja Ranjit Singh was scheduled to visit the Kumbh in April 1808, and the Company deployed its Lahore envoy Charles Metcalfe to receive him at Haridwar. However, Singh cancelled his visit.[26]
- 1814 Ardh Kumbh Mela
- Baptist missionary John Chamberlain, who was in the service of Bengalis and Hindustani speakers understood; but he had difficulty communicating with the Punjabi-speaking Sikhs.[28]
- Chamberlain mentioned that the fair was attended by "multitudes of every religious order", and that a number of visitors came there because of "mercantile considerations". He was particularly astonished to see a large number of Sikhs, who according to him, outnumbered the Hindus. He also saw several Europeans, who came riding elephants for the novelty factor.[28] According to the missionary records, an estimated 500,000 people assembled at Haridwar.[27]
- Secretary of Government Mr Ricketts complained to the Government about Chamberlain's preaching to the natives, fearing that it might result in trouble. The Government asked Begum Sumroo to dismiss Chamberlain from her service. The Begum made attempts to retain him, but finally, complied with the Government's demand.[29]
- 1820 Kumbh Mela
- A stampede left 430 dead during the 1820 mela. Subsequently, the Company government undertook extensive and expensive repair works on the bathing ghats. This move reportedly impressed the natives. The Asiatic Journal quotes one pilgrim as: "May your rule be blessed! May your reign extend for ages to come! You have produced a magnificent kumbh! You have turned the kali yuga into an age of truth and justice!".[16]
British Raj
After the
Several Hindu rajas, Muslim Nawabs and the Sikh royals also visited the fair. Begum Samru of Sardhana would often come to the fair, with her retinue of 1,000 horse cavalry and 1,500 infantry. A few Christian missionaries also visited the Mela, and distributed copies of the Bible translated into "the various dialects of the East".[2]
Martin mentions that the Brahmins collected the taxes, but did not perform any sacerdotal role in the bathing rites, which were performed without any priestly ceremonies. He states that in the earlier years, a number of people died in stampedes as devotees rushed towards the river bank. However, the danger of stampedes had reduced since the government constructed a new ghat and widened the road leading to it.[2]
The police and civil magistrates were deployed to maintain law and order. The Sirmoor battalion of Gurkha soldiers from Dehradun was deployed to maintain peace.[2]
1867: Improved sanitation and traffic management
The pilgrim camp for the 1867 Mela was located a 9-mile strip of river-side land, and varied 2 to 6 miles in width at different places. According to a rough census of the pilgrim camp, taken on the night of 9 April 1867 by the British, the number of pilgrims was 2,855,966. The total number of pilgrims, including those who visited the camp before and after 9 April, was estimated at around 3 million.[30]
H.D. Robertson, the Magistrate of Saharanpur, led the Mela management. The administration strictly controlled the food supplies to prevent inflated prices, and ordered destruction of contaminated food to prevent outbreak of diseases.
Like the previous Melas, cases of cholera were reported at the 1867 Mela, but an epidemic was prevented. On 9 April, a grass-cutter belonging to the 14th Bengal Cavalry's station near Kankhal suffered from cholera. He recovered quickly under treatment. On 13 April, 8 cases of cholera were reported at the pilgrim camp. By 15 April, the number of cases had increased to 19, but this was a small number compared to the 20,000 cholera-related deaths in 1783. While the sanitary conditions and waste disposal facilities had improved, the containment of a potential cholera epidemic can be attributed to the fact that the ceremonies were largely over by the time the disease broke out. Pilgrims had started departing on the noon of 12 April, and by 15 April, the campground was vacant.[30] It is possible that several of the departing pilgrims had been infected, and disseminated the disease across northern India. In the subsequent Melas, there was a large number of cholera-related deaths.[32]
The 1867 Mela was also noted for improved traffic management. Special bridges were constructed to ensure a smooth flow of pilgrims from camps to the bathing ghat. Separate routes were designated for going to and return from the ghat, and a unidirectional traffic was maintained to avoid any stampede. For the first time, animals were not permitted in the town on the day of the shahi snan. During the next Kumbh Mela in 1879, the traffic arrangements were further controlled. The pilgrims were "marshalled in orderly lines" by the police. During the 1885 Ardh Kumbh fair, the policemen set up entry barriers for the ghats, in order to avoid stampedes.[31]
Cholera outbreaks
Year | Mela | Number of deaths |
---|---|---|
1879 | Kumbh | 35,892 |
1885 | Ardh Kumbh | 63,457 |
1891 | Kumbh | 169,013 |
1897 | Ardh Kumbh | 44,208 |
1903 | Kumbh | 47,159 |
1909 | Ardh Kumbh | 21,823 |
1915 | Kumbh | 90,508 |
1921 | Ardh Kumbh | 149,667 |
1927 | Kumbh | 28,285 |
1933 | Ardh Kumbh | 1,915 |
1938 | Kumbh | 70,622 |
1945 | Ardh Kumbh | 77,345 |
The next few Kumbh Melas played a major role in the spread of
- 1891 Kumbh Mela - dispersed due to cholera outbreak
- In 1891, a massive cholera outbreak in India resulted in 724,384 deaths.
- The Gaurakshini sabha, which led the cow protection movement, had organized its second meeting at the Mela. The British government's dispersal of pilgrims displeased many orthodox Hindus, who saw it as an infringement of their religious practices.[34][37]
- 1915 Kumbh Mela
- Delegates of regional Hindu Sabhas established the All-India Hindu Sabha, which changed its name to Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha in 1921.[38] Maharaja of Darbhanga Rameshwar Singh formed the All India Sanatan Dharma Sammelan.[39]
Independent India
1986 Kumbh Mela
Around forty-seven people were killed in a stampede on 14 April during the 1986 Kumbh Mela. For two hours, around 20,000 pilgrims had been waiting in a police cordon, to cross a bridge near Pant Dweep island to go to
However, Inderjit Bhadwar of
1998 Kumbh Mela
The Government of India used the Kumbh Mela to promote tourism. Newspaper ads described it as "a rare opportunity for a soul-purifying experience".
2010 Kumbh Mela
Haridwar hosted the Purna Kumbh mela from Makar Sankranti (14 January 2010) to Shakh Purnima Snan (28 April 2010). Millions of Hindu pilgrims attended the mela. On 14 April 2010, alone approximately 10 million people bathed in the Ganges river.[43] According to officials by mid April about 40 million people had bathed since 14 January 2010.[44] Hundreds of foreigners joined Indian pilgrims in the festival which is thought to be the largest religious gathering in the world.[44][45] To accommodate the large number of pilgrims Indian Railways ran special trains.[46] At least 5 people died in a stampede after clashes between holy men and devotees.[47]
Despite environmental improvements, the MahaKumbh mela remained a highly unsanitary event.[49][50][51]
2021 Kumbh Mela
The 2021 Haridwar Kumbh Mela was held during the
The Union Health Ministry issued a list of Standard Operating Procedures to prevent the spread of COVID during the event, including a mandatory negative RT-PCR test report for the attendees.[56] However, many attendees refused to follow the guidelines, refusing to wear masks or practice social distancing.[57]
On 14 April 2021, 943,452 people took a holy dip in the River Ganges.
The
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