Kumbh and Stampedes..

Kumbh and Stampedes..

Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage. It occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Allahabad (Prayag) at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati river, Haridwar along Ganga river, Ujjain along the Kshipra river and Nashik along the Godavari river, so a Kumbh Mela is practically held every three years across the four locations.

According to Indian astrology, it is celebrated when the planet of Brihaspati (Jupiter) moves into the zodiac sign of Aquarius or Kumbha. Each sites celebration dates are calculated in advance according to a special combination of zodiacal positions of Sun, Moon, and Jupiter.

Kumbha is a Sanskrit word for Pitcher, the Kalasha, it also a zodiac sign in Indian astrology for Aquarius, the sign under which the festival is celebrated, while Mela means 'a gathering' or 'a meet', or simply a fair.

The observance of Kumbh Mela dates back many centuries in Ancient India, to the Vedic period, where the river festivals first started getting organised. In Hindu mythology, its origin is found the one of the popular creation myths and the Hindu theories on evolution, the Samudra manthan episode (Churning of the ocean of milk), which finds mention in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Vishnu Purana, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

The Gods had lost their strength, and to regain it, they thought of churning the Ksheera Sagara (primordial ocean of milk) for amrit (the nectar of immortality), this required them to make a temporary agreement with their arch enemies, the demons or Asuras to work together, with a promise of sharing the nectar equally thereafter. However, when the Kumbha (urn) containing the amrita appeared, a fight ensued. For twelve days and twelve nights (equivalent to twelve human years) the gods and demons fought in the sky for

 The pilgrims came, millions upon millions of them, in the greatest tide of humanity ever seen. Again and again, the vast crowds threatened to press too close, to trample the smallest. Then it happened.As many as 30 people were killed Sunday in a stampede at Allahabad Railway Station.

Death and loss have long been associated with the pilgrimage at the Kumbh, which takes place in other locations according to a different cycle. Deadly stampedes previously occurred at the Allahabad pilgrimage in 1840, 1906, 1954 and 1986.

The most tragic stampede that occurred in 1954 at Kumbha Mela on 3 February 1954 in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh state in India. It was main bathing day of Mauni Amavasya , when the incident took place, and during the festival 4-5 million pilgrims had taken part that year, which was also the first Kumbh Mela after the Independence.
The figures for the tragedy varied according to different sources. While some reported more than 800 people dead and over 100 injured, the other reported "no fewer than 350 people were trampled to death and drowned, 200 were counted missing, and over 2,000 were injured".According to the book Law and Order in India over 500 were dead.]

 The Kumbh Mela has traditionally been used by politicians to connect with mass gather of Indian populace prior to the India's Independence, and as this was the first Kumbh Mela after the Independence, many leading politicians had visited the city during the event, which goes for over 40 days. What compounded the failure of crowd control measures, over 5 million pilgrims visit Allahabad during the festival, was not just the presence of large number of politicians, but also the fact that the Ganges River has changed course and moved in closer to the Bund(embankment) and the city, reducing the available space of the temporary Kumbh township and movement of the people. Ultimately what triggered the tragedy was that surge of crowd broke the barriers to witness a procession of sadhus and holy men of various akharas, which ended up in a stampede.

After the event, Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru suggested that politicians and VIPs may not visit the Mela,
 who were all but exonerate along with the government after the inquiry of any wrongdoing.
 The judicial inquiry commission, set up after what was one of worst stampedes in India, was headed by Justice Kamala Kant Verma, and its recommendation became the basis of better management for future Kumbh in the coming decades, where this tragedy stood as grim reminder to Mela planners and district administration.
 The subsequent Kumbh Mela organization remained event free after that, and grew considerable in size, so much so that around 80-100 million people took part in 2010 Kumbh Mela, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world.

When the Kumbh Mela was held in Nashik, India, from July 27 to September 7, 2003, 39 pilgrims (28 women and 11 men) were trampled to death and 57 were injured (keeping in mind that the number of devotees attending the fair was around 70 million). Devotees had gathered on the banks of the Godavari river for the maha snaan or holy bath. Over 30,000 pilgrims were being held back by barricades in a narrow street leading to the Ramkund, a holy spot, so the sadhus could take the first ceremonial bath. Reportedly, a sadhu threw some silver coins into the crowd and the subsequent scramble led to the stampede.

in the Kumbh Mela at Hardwar in 1986. 50 people were crushed to
death. Trampled in a stampede to the banks of the river.

After visiting the Kumbh Mela of 1895, Mark Twain wrote:--
‘It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites.’