I believe two's company, three's a crowd. I never thought I would visit Kumbh in this lifetime, when I dont even visit local temple when its crowded, I dont even go to swimming pool because of cold water, I even add hot water to shampoo to avoid any cold during head bath, dont ask how many sweaters I wear even in Bangalore. And to add to everything, I am scared of water bodies also :-)
Sooo, Never ever imagined visiting such crowded place to get a dip in cold water. What an irony in life :) When your destiny is calling, you have to answer the call :-)
All credits to my Guru and my husband to make it happen :-)
Aum sri Gurbhyo Namaha
Aum Gan ganapathaye Namaha
Har Har Mahadev
How we went :
To and Fro: Bangalore - Varanasi by flight, Varanasi - Prayagraj by Vande Bharat train
When: 26th Jan to 29th Jan (Amrit Snan day of Mauni Amavasya) - 3N 4D
Why?
First lets understand the significance of Maha Kumbh Mela in simple terms:
The event is deeply rooted in Sanatana Dharma (Hindu) and centres on the belief in the purifying power of sacred rivers. Pilgrims bathe in these rivers, believing the ritual cleanses their sins and brings them closer to spiritual liberation.
What does Kumbh Mela mean?
The name "Kumbh Mela" translates to "Festival of the Pitcher" in Sanskrit. "Kumbh" refers to the pitcher or pot that contained the nectar of immortality in Sanatana Dharma (Hindu), while "Mela" means a fair or gathering.
Hindu scriptures recount the legend of the Samudra Manthan - the churning of the ocean of milk by gods and demons in search of the nectar of immortality.
According to Sanatana Dharma (Hindu), four drops of this nectar fell on the locations where Kumbh Mela is now celebrated, making them sacred.
What happens during Kumbh Mela?
The festival is a blend of religious rituals and cultural activities. Its central feature is the Amrit snan (royal baths).These ceremonial baths are led by groups of sadhus, including Naga sadhus, who are known for covering themselves in ash and symbolizing renunciation.
As well as bathing rituals, Kumbh Mela also features spiritual discussion, religious processions, prayers and cultural performances. Religious organizations set up a number of temporary camps, providing food, shelter and opportunities for spiritual learning.
It is a celebration of spirituality, of liberation, of divine energies, and of faith!!
The 4 types of Kumbh Mela
While the one the world will experience in 2025 is the Maha Kumbh mela, there are also other types as below,
Magh Mela (Every Year)
Kumbh Mela (Once in 3 Years)
Ardh Kumbh Mela (Once in 6 Years)
Purna Kumbh Mela (Once in 12 Years)
Maha Kumbh Mela (Once in 144 Years)
The timing, year, and dates of the Purna Kumbh and Maha Kumbh aren’t decided on whims and fancies. They are determined by the positions of celestial bodies, especially the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter. It is said that it takes about 12 years for Brihaspati to go around the sun, and thus the Purna Kumbh Mela occurs when Jupiter completes the orbit. As Jupiter moves through different zodiac signs, its position relative to the Sun and Moon determines the specific location and timing of the Kumbh Mela.
Mauni Amavasya:
This day of Mauni Amavasya , is even more special this year due to a rare cosmic alignment known as ‘Triveni Yog,’ which happens once in 144 years. The alignment of the sun, moon, and mercury in Capricorn, with Jupiter in the ninth zodiac house, is considered an important event in Hindu astrology. In Sanatana Dharma (Hindu), this day is significant because Rishabh Dev, one of the earliest sages, broke his long vow of silence and took a dip in the sacred waters. It is believed that taking a dip on Mauni Amavasya, particularly in the pre-dawn hours, offers spiritual growth and purification. This ritual, known as Amrit Snan or the royal bath, is seen as an opportunity for devotees to cleanse themselves of sins.
Now coming back to why I went, As a yoga beginner , and a spiritual seeker, I went to experience this most important biggest spiritual gathering where many group of Sadhus, also their heads , Naga Sadhus and many more spiritual people come together. I went with an open mind to learn whatever lessons/karma are on my way in this mela as a seeker.
Bangalore to Varanasi by flight and stay in Varanasi Gokul Niketan.
Since Kashi Vishwanath Darshan tickets were not available by any way, we only went to nearby Kaal Bhairav temple. It is said that Kaal Bhairav is the protector of Kashi and must visit before visiting Vishwanath swamy temple. There was big line to the temple even around 10.30pm but we continued with flow and finished the Darshan around 11.30pm. Since it was almost closing time, people were made to move fast.
Later we roamed around Kashi Vishwanath temple and witnessed Manikaran ghat where dead bodies are burnt on banks of river Ganga. All gates to temple were closed and also already devotees had lined up km long for morning Darshan. Hats off to peoples devotion and faith. So we came back to our accomodation to have few hrs of sleep.
Early morning 6am was our Vande Bharat train to Prayagraj. We reached train station by 4.45am itself to take care that we can go inside train irrespective of any huge crowd. But at Varanasi at this time, we easily boarded the train and on time we were on the way to Dev Bhumi Prayagraj.
Prayagraj (Sanskrit: Prayāgarāja), meaning "the king among the five prayāgas", is used as a term of respect to indicate that this confluence is the most splendid one of the five sacred confluences in India. Also it is believed that Prajapathi Daksh performed first(Pratham) Yagna here on earth for blessing the humans.
We had booked a cab to drop us from railway station to ITDC tent city in Prayagraj. Prayagraj railway station is well managed to manage such huge crowd, exit is only one way and only allowed on certain sides. Our driver had parked unfortunately on other side, so we had to walk roughly 1/2km to reach the cab.
To manage the huge crowd, Govt has created a Chakarvyuha :-) in the sense that , many roads are one way, many roads are no-vehicle zones etc, so even though we arrived in Prayagraj railway station on-time by 7.30am, to reach our ITDC tent, it took 3hrs to cover 5kms. But the good part is, cab dropped us very near to tent entrance so not much walking was required.
After quick check in and dropping our luggages at reception (since checkin was at 2pm) , we got hint from our guide that , Mr Amit Shahs visit is planned for the day and hence due to protocol, all roads are no-vehicle zones and also at some roads even walking is not allowed.
Kumbh Mela Arrangements by govt
The entire mela campus is divided into 25 sectors, and as ma ..
Read more at:
ITDC tent city is located in sector 25.
Since no vehicles were allowed , we started walking towards Arail ghat in sector 23 from where we plan to get boat to triveni sangam soon after it restarts after Amit Shahjis visit. There was huge crowd on the way. Wherever it was allowed between 2 barricades, we hired e-rickshaws, rest we walked until Arail ghat.
First we visited Someshwar Mahadev temple. It was peaceful and less crowded.
On the way, at many places Prasad was offered. We had Aloo paratha, Gud Jalebi, Thali at one of the on the way restaurant. Food was ok, Gud Jalebi was worth trying.
We reached Arail ghat around 2.30pm. We waited 30-45mins for boats to resume after VVIP movements. Meanwhile we saw Baba Ramdev, Juna Akhada head Swami Avdheshanand Giri, and many others going out in cars. Once boats resumed for general public, our guide arranged for one boat (very expensive due to high demand on that day). Since this is why we went to Prayagraj, we had to agree for the price and went ahead. Boat ride to Triveni sangam was very nice, with Sea Gulls all the way. We could clearly see two sacred rivers Gangaji and Yamunaji meeting at Triveni Sangam. (Saraswati is hidden)
At the sangam, nice changing rooms are arranged.
We had amazing divine holy dip. Even though water was cold, it gave amazing feeling after holy dip. We spent easily 30-40mins at the sangam water and then returned to the boat.
Due to VVIP movements and next day Amrit snan arrangements, boats were only allowed from and to Arail ghat. Usually they pick from Arail ghat and drop to other side (Kali ghat) where rest of the attractions like Bade hanuman, alopi shakthi peeth etc are located. But because of these restrictions, we were dropped back to same spot on Arail side. so unfortunately, we couldn't visit any other attractions on other side. We saw Arun Govil while returning. After light dinner on the way in a food court, we again reached tent area.
Later around 7pm, we took pipa bridge number 30 (which was open at that time) to cross to other side and walked until sector 20 to visit some major Akhadas. Again no vehicles were there, so we walked roughly 7km one way to reach the Akhada area.
What are Akhadas?
In each Mahakumbh, there is a special group of Akhadas that are given the first priority in many aspects. These Akhadas are the traditional religious sects of sadhus that bring them together, impart knowledge, help people realise the spiritual energy inside them, and much more. Back in the day, when India fought against invaders and looters, it is said that the Sadhus of these Akhadas fought tooth and nail to protect the Hindu faith.And so, here we mention the 6 most famous Akhadas in Mahakumbh 2025.
We could visit only 2-3 Akhadas, since they were closing for the day. The one i would remember the most is the Juna Akhada where we saw a Baba who has raised his one hand from 12yrs or so, another baba wearing 11000 Rudrakshas, fancy modern baba and ofcourse many Naga Sadhus. Naga Sadhus are a particular group of Shaivite/Shiivite saints who reside in the Himalayan Caves and come to visit the civilization only during the Kumbh Mela to bless general public. This is the only event when these ascetic saints can be seen among the general Indian population.
It was divine and grateful experience to get blessings from these great Sadhus who are doing their Tapasya in different ways from many years and are here now to bless us.
After tiring day and long walks, I was almost limping before entering these Akadhas but after visiting suddenly I felt energized.
We got a bike ride back until pipa bridge. Again we had to walk back on that bridge (approx 1.5km) and also until ITDC tent. After such a long day, it was such a relief to go back to luxurious room with heater in ITDC tent city.
I pray God to give all the seekers/sadhus all the energy and guidance to go to next levels and reach liberation.
After heavy breakfast at ITDC tent, Since tent was not available another day, we had to move to our community Math on day 3. Since it was previous day of Amrit snan day, many roads are blocked , bridges closed and also many no-vehicle zones were there, it was very challenging and long long route to reach. We took all kinds of transport that day from e-rickshaw, cycle cart to bike and then finally walked a lot to finally reach our accomodation around 4pm. (We had left at 10am)
Our original plan was to use the same pipa bridge and go via Akadas and explore more before reaching our next accomodation. But that day all bridges were closed due to huge crowd and to prepare for Amrit snan. Bad luck. So this day got fully wasted :(
But good thing is, there is Lord Krishna temple within math and devotees sang amazing bhajans and also could meditate for sometime to connect back to divine and forget about long wasted day.
Finally its Mauni Amavasya Brahma muhurat time which we were waiting for. Dip in the triveni sangam was impossible due to tiredness and distance and also we had to start early today to reach Prayagraj railway station again for our journey back. So we decided to go to near by Ganga ghat and have holy dip again.
Holy dip was very refreshing and full with Brahma muhurat energy :) . There was also huge crowd at the ghat. After the dip, we could visit chote hanuman temple.
After breakfast, we started walk towards railway station. For some distance we got cycle cart and bike but rest was again walk. There was huge huge crowd all going to railway station. We started at 8am and finally reached platform around 11.30am. Train was originally scheduled at 12.10pm. at one point we thought , we will miss train. Only towards end they have separated general booking and reserved booking and have given priority to vande bharat passengers. Thank God :) Train was delayed a lot and finally we reached varanasi train station around 4.30pm. There was bit of struggle to go out from platform due to huge crowd. Our flight was at 8pm from Varanasi airport. Gods grace, finally we reached safely to Varanasi airport, our flight was on time and we all reached home in Bangalore safely :)
As my lesson, I got reminded of below song,
Kabhi haarna na,
himmat ka kadam badhao,
hazaaron kadam badhaane,
vo saamne khada hai :-)
Ye mat kaho khuda se,
meri mushkilen badi hai,
in mushkilon se kehdo,
mera khuda bada hai.
Tips for visitors:
1. Be physically fit and ready to walk 10-12km as demand can arise. Be open to ask help from bikers, cycle carts etc or even police (you might be lucky to get one). Divid into smaller groups (2-4) is better. Else time also gets wasted in keeping group together.
2. Be mentally prepared, don't be disappointed if you miss something. You must be grateful for whatever you get in this sacred place. Since anytime any road can be blocked, any decision can be taken by govt authorities (respect it because its for your own safety), any incidences can happen irrespective of the tremendous arrangements made available....
3. Better to prefer flight to Prayagraj instead of train if you can afford it.
4. Keep sufficient 2-3hrs buffer and dont rely at all on google maps timings. Check the current situation and go with the flow.
4. Keep power bank and mobiles charged before leaving accomodation. We did not face any network issues there. You can also enable live location shared in Whatsapp for entire day in case someone gets lost.
Hats off to the government, to police authorities and all different workers there , putting their effort day and night to ensure safety/security and providing facilities to crores of devotees visiting Kumbh mela at this time.
Request all devotees to keep patience and follow the rules set for our own safety.
Hats off also to all devotees who are visiting with such great devotion and faith!!
I again pray for very successful Maha Kumbh 2025.
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