(400 million people are expected to gather at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers near the city of Prayagraj for a holy dip from January 13 to February 26, 2025. I will be visiting the Kumbh Mela from February 1-5, 2025.)
OMG, suddenly, there is an overwhelming surge of hype, hoopla, and cacophony about the Kumbh Mela across India. There are thousands of videos and news clips blaring every day. Steve Jobs’ wife has allergies after her first dip in the Ganga, another IIT-baba has emerged, one sadhu (monk) grows rice on his head, another has been standing for last 15 years even in sleep, assembly of 400 million people, Kumbh after 144 years, 150,000 toilets built, mystic of unclothed Naga Sadhus, 30 bridges, free food, underwater drones, clean Ganga, good politicians, opportunists politicians, security, videos from train, videos from cars, videos from helicopters… there is no end to the streaming.
Then there are the rituals: offering water three times to three types of ancestors and taking dips only 3, 5, 7, 11, or 17 times (notably all prime numbers). Perform pooja on the banks; leave your body unwiped for three minutes; and visit the Nag-Vasuki temple to earn punya (virtues). Claims range from the highest centrifugal force on Earth being present in Prayagraj during the Kumbh to the Jovian effect enhancing spirituality—the media’s barrage of advice seems endless.
Do I sound sarcastic? I assure you, I’m not. Five percent of the world’s population seeking liberation (mukti) in one place is truly a mind-blowing event! It deserves all the publicity it can get, and more. Today is the fifth day of the Kumbh, and already 45 million people have visited Prayagraj—remarkably, not a single crime has been reported on our typically negativity-seeking social media. For Americans like me, that itself is a miracle. Besides, there is no stampede, no violence, no crushing others, no dirty trash floating in the river! As we say in America, “knock on wood”—may everything continue to go well.
But that’s not why I’m going to the Kumbh. In my previous article, I discussed what my dip in the Ganga symbolizes to me and what I learned from the sadhus I met during earlier pilgrimages (1). Let me continue my thoughts on self-exploration.
Let’s begin with the mythology behind the Kumbh’s origin: the Samudra-Manthan (churning of the ocean), beautifully sculpted in the main atrium of Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Devas (gods) and Asuras (demigods) churned the ocean using Mount Mandara as a rod and the serpent Vasuki as a rope, seeking the nectar of immortality. The Samudra Manthan yielded various substances from the ocean. Then fourteen special gems emerged, including the goddesses of wealth (Lakshmi), sleep (Nidradevi), and wine (Varuni); the god of medicine (Dhanvantari); and the wish-granting cow (Kamdhenu) and tree (Kalpavruksha). Eventually, the nectar emerged in the Kumbh (pot). The Devas and Asuras fought over it. Drops of nectar fell at four places in India, one being Prayagraj—where the Kumbh is now held at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati.

The Samudra Manthan has barely begun in my mind—even the poison Halahal hasn’t emerged, let alone the nectar. Can I confront myself honestly during the Kumbh and spew out this poison from my mind? Where within me is the Lord Shiva who can digest this poison? For example, can I challenge myself on:
– Do I harbor racist and biased thoughts, even subconsciously?
– Do I truly respect everyone—regardless of their gender, religion, actions, or even moral values?
– When I offer namaste, do I genuinely acknowledge the divine in the person before me, or is it merely a formality?
– When I pray Pasaydan by Saint Dnyaneshwar from 13th century, it says, “जे खळांचि व्यंकटी सांडो, तया सत्कर्मी रती वाढो, भूतां परस्परे पडो, मैत्र जीवांचे!” (May the negative karma of sinners be eliminated—not the sinners themselves; may their good karma flourish; may friendship and harmony grow among all beings). Do I truly embrace this teaching, or do I still harbor hatred for the sinners themselves?

– Can I transcend my ego, hatred, jealousy, anger, and desires to fill my soul with infinite love?
– Should I abandon the Manthan entirely and simply surrender to the divine?
These questions could continue endlessly—the list is infinite. The central question remains: “Will the Kumbh accelerate my Samudra Manthan?”
Perhaps what will catalyze my Manthan is the presence of these massive crowds. Will I be able to feel their reverence and devotion, their pious thoughts, their collective spiritual energy? Imagine all these people saving modest amounts of money from their meager daily earnings, imagine their travel to this Kumbh from hundreds of kilometers to fulfill their lifelong dreams, imagine standing in this crushing crowd for hours and hours in anticipation of the dip in Ganga, imagine three minutes of dip, and then spending the rest of their lives cherishing that brief moment while caring for family, helping others, avoiding hatred, working hard, following the law and one’s dharma, and finding joy in life’s simple moments. That is faith—the truth beyond facts. Who am I to challenge such power? I am but a speck in this vast universe.
What a power of this collective faith at the Kumbh—the spiritual force generated by millions of souls! Will I sense it, will I be overwhelmed, will I feel humble, small, and tearful—just another tiny element in this unabating flow of civilization, in this eternal flow of time?
The validity of this experience ultimately depends on one’s purity of heart, perspective, and approach. Just outside the Rameswaram Temple gates in South India, a signboard displays the excerpt from a speech by Swami Vivekanand, the modern Indian saint. Swamiji’s message was very blunt: he advised devotees against visiting the temple if their hearts were not pure (2). The excerpt reads: “It is in pure and sincere love in heart that religion exists, not in ceremony. Unless a man is pure in body and mind, entering a temple and worshiping God is futile. If a person enters a temple with an impure mind, they add to their existing sins and leave in a worse state than when they arrived.” Why would the Kumbh be any different from Rameswaram?

Have I been drowned by social media? Yes. Will my self-exploration continue regardless? Absolutely. Will my mind be pure enough to absorb the extraordinary spiritual energy at the Kumbh? I hope so. Meanwhile, my seeking continues!
Nitin Anturkar (Jan 17, 2025)
– My previous article on Kumbh,
– A speech by Swami Vivekanand outside Rameswaram temple: https://singhruby.com/2018/05/29/swami-vivekanandas-message-at-the-ramanathaswamy-temple-in-rameshwaram/
Wow Dadhi ….
Reading your preview on the Kumbh was mind blowing …. I’m totally awed at your self exploration journey. In fact, what a privilege it is to visit the Kumba Mela that is taking place after 144 yrs …. Living in India, going to the Kumbh Mela is easily accessible to me but the fear of the massive crowd that will be there doesn’t allow me to proceed to it physically. I wish you all the very best and look forward to seeing the Kumbh Mela through your eyes and your sharing.
It is great to read your thoughts and honest self exploration. From my perspective, you are conducting a very challenging yagna. I advise self compassion. In living everyone else, include yourself!
Simply unbelievable and mind boggling! Please do tell us about your self realisation feeling/experience.
Good luck for your remaining mission!
Can I transcend my ego, hatred, jealousy, anger, and desires to fill my soul with infinite love?
Dadhi its a privilege to read your efforts on your spiritual journey. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences and wish you all the very best .
Nitin, Glad to know about various thoughts crossing your mind during the run up to your pilgrimage to Prayag for Kumbh. Your rationale and reason for participating in the world’s biggest gathering is well articulated. Your anticipation, preparation, preview and process are sure to bring success.
Now that you’re about to execute your plans, may I suggest that you empty your mind completely before you land at Prayagraj Airport / Station. Please land there with no expectations with your eyes, ears, body and brain fertile to absorb, accept and assimilate anything that you encounter. Look for totally new experiences and not for evidences for your predictions coming true or confirmations to your beliefs.
May what you encounter that week awaken you and set you in the direction of self realisation and eternal happiness.
Nitin above article is written so well that we don’t have to go to kumbha mela. Unbelievable. All your journey reports are excellent.
I may be there at that time.
Inspiring to read your words, Nitin! Looking forward to your next installment.
Thought provoking!!!! May you succeed in your pursuits 🙏
Very nicely penned. I will keep looking at the following article and the next….
Nitin great. Well explained.
Beautiful writing and svadyaya brother! I’m excited for you and look forward to reading about your experience, should you feel called to share. Love, blessings and namaste to you!
Very well written .
I will keep track of your articles .
Good churning of thoughts, a real Manthan मंथन without any churner like Mandar parvat, our old thousand and thousand years back tradition, story and new global perspective .Why the nectar not dropped in Nile or in Mississippi or in France? But if that had happened could there be such कुंभमेला ? Surely not..Are all the Yatris have done sins, surely not..I think all the Papi will appear in Prayag to collect the cash after the mela is over .. Are Indians , Naga Sadhus, following the tradition of taking dip in the water, progressive or only because they can’t go back, they are pushed in the new scientific world? Why the hotels do not provide clean and pure गंगाजल by taps ? The sins can be washed away by the same water..A very good कुंभमेळा वैचारिक दर्शन with the flow of graceful narrative language..
We will be with you in spirit. I hope you experience your goals. Seems you have an open heart.
Nitin, as always written from the bottom of your heart. There are so many stories about MAHAKUMBH on social media right now.
As your story unfolds over the next couple of weeks, I will be keenly following your musings and ignoring most of the other clutter.
As always, you have presented the flow of your thoughts very honestly. I look forward to your penned experiences about all santan dharm values at Kumbha, knowledge exchange, ‘atithi devo bhav!’, selfless daan ( donation), mela without any incident but full of ‘Bhakti’. I feel social media and advertise on world scale would dilute kumbha’s pure environment to relate to mind and intellect!
“विजयी भव !”
Nitin Kaka, Your mail got burried in other mails and I forgot to read your article until this day. Your nicely crafted words gave a new dimension to my thought process.
You have been looking at this crowd from different angle that I never thought of.
Wishing you a pleasant pilgrimage.