Website on Kumbha-Mela

We have divine pleasure in presenting to the public documents on the Kumbha-Mela, the greatest religious meeting of Hinduism which takes place every twelve years in each of the four following towns : Hardwar (200km north of Delhi, at the place where the Ganges comes out of Himalaya), Allahabad (also called 'Prayag', the 'confluence' of the Yamuna, the Ganges and the Saraswati -a mythical river- wich is called 'Triveni Sangam'), Ujjain (on the Chipra river, in Madhya Pradesh) and Nasik (on the Godavari in Maharashtra)

The two main places are Allahabad and Hardwar : in the latter at present (April 1998), the last Kumbha-Mela of the millenium is taking place, a fact which inspired us to build this website. Ten millions people are expected for the period of the main bath in the midst of April.

It is difficult to identify the historical beginning of the Kumbha-Mela. There are certainly traces of it in Allahabad during the sixth century, and it is described in its full form during the twelve and thirteen century in Hardwar.

Documents on Kumbha-Mela are scarce and hard to find. We are all the more happy to present here the 80 first pages of Subhash Rai who introduces the subject of the history and religion of the Mela in a detailed way. The book is published from Banaras, the center of traditional Hindu learning. It speaks about the history of this religious gathering, the sadhus who participate in it and the symbolic and Yogic significance of the principal elements of the Mela. The development of the two main bathing days of the Kumbha-Mela at precise spots along the Ganges links strongly this event to the cult of this holy stream, 'Mother Ganga', a form of the Goddes, since the word 'Ganga' is feminine in sanskrit and in the tongues derived from it.

The publisher and the author of this book permitted us to put it into the Internet only for a limited time, approximately four months, so we will have to remove it after this period.

The second text on this website corresponds to the biggest part of The Hindu Sannyas by Swami Abhishiktananda. He was basically a Christian monk, but turned to be a Vedantin in the end of his life. This text written not long before his death is a kind of spiritual will. It stresses the need for the life of renunciation and free consecration to the spiritual Goal in our increasingly materialistic world, and beautifully depicts the spirit of the Hindu sannyas with the help of the Upanishads of renunciation (a series of minor Upanishads giving both the mystical inspiration and the usual rules of the sannyasis). The text was written at Swami Chidananda's suggestion, the actual president of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh and published in their bulletin in 1973. It was then associated to a text of introduction to the spirituality of Upanishads entitled The Further Shore and published by ISPCK, Delhi. There is now a reprint of this valuable work, but its distribution is not good, be it in India or in the West. As in the case of Subas Rai's book, this text is not commercial for a large distribution, this is why indeed we are glad to make them known through the Internet to those inspired all over the world by the ideal of religious life and the form it has taken in the Indian culture.

This website could be built thanks to the initiative of Swami Sharad Puri, the director of Swami Hariharanand Public School in Kankhal (next to Hardwar), which has 1400 children taught through the English medium in a way respectful of the Hindu tradition.

It has been organized by Dr Jacques Vigne, a French psychiatrist turned indologist , sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) and writer on spiritual psychology East and West. After three years of studies at the Banaras Hindu University, he settled in Kankhal where he has been living for the last seven years. This website would not have been possible without the technical assistance from Nathalie Masia, an Internet specialist from the Universities of Montpellier & Corti (France), who came to Hardwar to develop the website projects at the Swami Hariharanand Public School. We must of course thank the Ganga-Kaveri Publications of Banaras and the ISPCK of Delhi for their kind permission to publish on the Internet their texts, which may be downloaded and printed as well for private use.

THE BOOK KUMBHA MELA:

Kumbha Mela is about a unique spectacle of religious fervour - the Hindu bathing festival of a Kumbha, a religious gathering that as no equal in the worl in terms of the sheer participation of people. What brings this huge chunk of humanitiy to the banks of holy rivers at specified times and places ? This is a mistery wich has multiple points of ingress. The book sets out to trace the myriad linked between the religious, historical, scientific and social aspects definiting this festival.

Sets the analytical stage for the correct understanding of the mystic surroundingthe Kumbha Mela fair. On the one side exploresin detail the origin, antiquity and theoretical underpannings of the twins facetsof Kumbha; and juxta-poses " Kumbha on a human scale " the human body itself- with the theory and praxis of Kumbha and brings out striking parallels between the two. And on the other side, looks at the kumbha festivalfrom an entirely new angle. Brings out in vivid detail how the timing, sites and rituals of this fair are governed by considerations of the spatio-temporal bio-effects of cosmic cycle.

This outstanding book will be of great use for laymen as well as teachers, scholars and students of ancient Indian history and culture, religion, philosophy, astronomy, physics and cosmobiology.

THE AUTHOR Subas RAI:

Subas RAI began his scientific career in the discipline of Palaeo-environmental archeology at the Banaras Hindu University. In time,his deep curiosity and penetrating insight led him to explore subjects covering ancient as well as modern science and technology. His academic interests range far and wide, and he has published dozens of research papers in reputed journals, both national and international.

THE BOOK THE FURTHER SHORE:

The further Shore is composed by two essays, SANNYAS and THE UPANISHADS-AN INTRODUCTION. We only present SANNYAS or The Call to the Desert. in this penetraring essaythe author expouds the significance of the Indian tradition of renunciation, and thereby causes a compelling echo to resound in a heart of comtempory man. He presents not only the spirit of Hindu monasticism, but tells that true renunciation wich is beyond religions, and leads to silence. His texts are based on Upanishads and Vedanta, open doors for the mysticism of the church of India.

THE AUTHOR Abhishiktananda:

Swami Abhishiktananda was first Father Henri Le Saux is a leading figure of the Hindu-Christian dialogue. His spiritual path essentialy consisted in the complete appropriation of the advaitic experience of the Upanishadic rishis, without however losing hold of his own rootedness in the Christian tradition.

Redactor Nathalie MASIA