21st Century Kumbh
Occurring every 12 years, the spectacular Kumbh Mela – a Hindu pilgrimage to the confluence of the holy Ganga, Jamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers – is the largest human gathering on earth. At the 2013 festival, 100 million performed traditional, ceremonial bathing rites in the holy waters, having travelled thousands of kilometres from all over India and across the globe.
Pilgrims gather and stay in the Kumbh Nagar a 58km2 ‘pop-up’ tented-city built on the dried river-bed of the Ganga, this huge, temporary construction is made up of Akhara’s (spiritual centers), pilgrim encampments, hospitals, police stations, post offices, fires stations, restaurants, shops, banks, railway offices and bathing areas .
21st Century Kumbh offers an insight into the delicate equilibrium of tradition and technology, religious and civil organisation that exists within it. This is a snapshot of a changing India, at a point when its religious heritage and technological development are battling to find a crucial balance.
Occurring every 12 years, the spectacular Kumbh Mela – a Hindu pilgrimage to the confluence of the holy Ganga, Jamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers – is the largest human gathering on earth. At the 2013 festival, 100 million performed traditional, ceremonial bathing rites in the holy waters, having travelled thousands of kilometres from all over India and across the globe.
Pilgrims gather and stay in the Kumbh Nagar a 58km2 ‘pop-up’ tented-city built on the dried river-bed of the Ganga, this huge, temporary construction is made up of Akhara’s (spiritual centers), pilgrim encampments, hospitals, police stations, post offices, fires stations, restaurants, shops, banks, railway offices and bathing areas .
21st Century Kumbh offers an insight into the delicate equilibrium of tradition and technology, religious and civil organisation that exists within it. This is a snapshot of a changing India, at a point when its religious heritage and technological development are battling to find a crucial balance.
