Pilgrimage: The Kumbh Mela (Hinduism)

The Kumbh Mela (Hinduism)

Pilgrimage, a religious journey taken on by those who seek personal transformation. Good Mr. Giles and students today I will be talking about the importance of the celebration known as the Kumbha Mela. The Kumbh mela is a celebration that appreciates the forgiveness of previous sins, the event is only held four times every 12 years but normally has millions of people that attend the events. Pilgrimages are commonly taken into an unknown or foreign place that takes you outside of your normal life. The point of this journey is to return to that normal life and make the difference that lead you to begin the pilgrimage. The Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival that is one of the common pilgrimage’s, that takes the pilgrim on a journey to cleanse them of their previous sins. This religion has been in effect for over 100 years and has been used to provide the belief of forgiveness. The long process of the journey involves the stages from entry into the new living style to the return back to our previous life.

The Kumbh Mela, one of the prevalent pilgrimages that was founded by the Prayagwal Brahmin priests of Allahabad in 1915 and was used to display a sense of forgiveness. The Kumbh Mela is a sacred religious journey that is taken on by those who seek exoneration for their previous sins. This ritual is only celebrated four times every 12 years. The Kumbh Mela uses three rivers made from the essence of purity. The action of bathing yourself in the holy waters of India is a representation of washing away your sins. The journey of the Kumbha Mela is divided into steps by Lovat’s theory.

Firstly is the entry. The entry is the beginning where the old life of the pilgrim is left behind, and He or she is brought into the new spiritual life where the ritual is done. This transition is done to bring the pilgrim into he or she into a spiritual environment so the ritual is properly done.

Next is the preparation phase after the transition into the new life the pilgrims will remain in the same environments and prepare for the ritual cleansing you from your past sins. After this the pilgrims will go through the process of bathing themselves in the sacred rivers of Prayagraj. The Pilgrims are to dip into the water for themselves and for any relatives that may need cleansing. After washing away your sins, the festival celebrates the rebirth of the pilgrims by having a night time festival. Once the rebirth, the pilgrims will then return back to their past lives and continue with the belief that they have been forgiven for the past sins.

The Kumbh is a representation of forgiveness that shows the believers that they can become a better person. The Kumbha mela is an important pilgrimage because it shows a great deal of symbolism as the water represents purity and the rebirth of a new self. Unlike other Pilgrimages, the Kumbha Mela is a reverent experience that helps the people that are let down by their problems. The Kumbha Mela is a massive event that usually has millions of people that come travel far distances to participate in this journey. Some of the pilgrims that attend do not have the access to the transportation that most have. Without this People will travel for days just to have this experience. The last event had over 70 million attendants, on the first day out of the 2 month period there was over 10 million people had arrived.

To summarise, the kumbha mela is a great event that gives people the opportunity to be reborn into a better person. This pilgrimage is a great event to attend for those who seek exoneration for their past sins.