India's Secular Democracy Embraces Kumbh Mela
DolceTracker| Many consider Kumbh Mela to be the world’s largest religious gathering, with an estimated 60 million people attending over the course of four months.
During this time, millions of Hindu ascetics, called naga babas, who spend their lives sans clothes, desire and food and drink, converge at the Kumbh Mela to engage in religious discourse. They live in makeshift campsites and take holy dips in the Ganga on 10 bathing dates. It is estimated that somewhere between five and six million people pass through on these bathing dates and today is one of those days.
The event is amazingly tolerant of other religions and is called an example of India’s secular democracy in action. This article. written for UAE’s The National Newspaper, has thoroughly piqued our interest to know more about Hinduism and this entire religious experience. While we study, you can read on Immersed in India: The Kumbh Mela festival
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Thanks for the great article. You might also like to have a look at a comprehensive article that I have written on the Kumbh Mela (together with some beautiful photographs done by the very talented Enrico Fabian). You will find it here: http://blog.knowledge-must.com/archives/13-Kumbh-Mela-The-Most-Wonderful-Sight-in-India.html