TRAVELLING THROUGH THE LAND OF MYSTIC

it is the power that can part a river, move the mountain and endure hardship that comes together for being a part of Kumbh Mela.Legend says that at the time of war between demigods and demons for eternal life, a few drops of it fallen on to four different places that are known as Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik. so, oneself to gain the powers of these drops Kumbh Mela held at these four places ever since the legend has made. the normal Kumbh Mela held in every three years, another is Ardh Kumbh which means half Kumbh which held in every 6 years at prayag another is purna kumbh which held in every 12 year 'the complete kumbh' this one can take place at any four sites according to planetary movement and Maha Kumbh which held in every 144 years after 12 purna kumbh.Kumbh Mela is a festival of Hinduism. world's largest gathering of people, mela draws over 10 million people in 48 days to bath at the meeting point of two holy Hindu rivers the Ganga and the Yamuna. Many sadhus and naga sadhu gather around for practice their sadhana and many traditional rituals in which all the naga sadhu do their 'Sahai Snan' and other events done by thee sadhus on elephants, horses, and chariot.I visited the last Prayagraj Ardh(half) Kumbh Mela, 2019. it was held on a very large scale, after reading some articles on the newspaper I got influenced by the faith of devotees and planned to go solo to paraygraj.

day 1

I took an overnight bus from Delhi to prayagraj at that time period lots of buses and trains were reaching prayagraj on daily basis with lots of devotees. all the bus services were free inside for devotees, so many other facilities were provided by the Uttar Pradesh government to accommodate this gathering, free meals and stays were offered by the government on the other hand luxurious tents worth 2 lakh rupees per night was available for rich people. I reach there in the morning around 10'o clock, from my bus drop point I took another free bus to reach the Mela entrance, from there I started to stroll around, the Mela was too big that it's impossible to see everything in 1 or 2 days, there was no vehicle allowed inside the premises only man pulled vehicles were allowed which were also hard to find, on that day I walked around 15 km in which I saw so many devotees coming from different parts of India and so of them from different countries as many naga sadhus were there from different countries. the naga sadhu lives in a pack in which one them is alfa (the head of all), they all were living in tents and doing their sadhana(mediation) one pack which lives together is called an akhara. I saw different naga sadhu doing their sadhana in different ways, some of them were doing meditation from days without moving from their position while some tied their hand to the roof and some of them were doing their sadhana with small animals living on their body. they were so devoted to LORD SHIVA that they even lose their body parts as a present to lord shiva. at the banks of both the river the Ganga and the Yamuna, there were so many small boats who took devotees at the site of Sangam(meeting point) of two rivers, those boats were taking same ticket price at that time which was allocated by the government it was 110 rupees rather I heard from some of the locals that at the normal period they take only 10-20 rupees for that ride. so I took that ride, the rover of that boat provides life jacket to us as per rule by government. there were so many birds at the bank of the river and people were taking bath in that holy river at the point of sangam. after that boat ride, it was going dark so, i decided to stay at one of my friends who was living in prayagraj at the time. i took ola bike which was the cheapest mode of transport there, frankly cheapest not the safest as the rider was without a helmet and he was talking on a call for the whole ride. but i reach safely to his place, it was a great day spent.

day 2

it was the day of shahi snan(royal bath), on that day all the naga sadhu take bath at the sangam. they all come together and wash their body which was covered in ashes, every pack comes together to the Sangam, I was too lucky to encounter that scene in front of my eyes. after their bath, i took a boat for myself to take a bath at Sangam, on that day there were so many boats in river filled with so many devotees it was actually crowded that day, almost 1.5 crore people dip on that day. it was hard to stroll around i had to walk for 18 km on that day with hot weather but it was nothing for the view of that holy place. soo many food courts and other cultural events i attend there. at the end of the day when sun was gone i was able to hear the chanting of naga sadhu coming from their akharas.listening to that amazing sound i ended my second day.

day 3

It was the last day of my trip so, I planned to see other things prayagraj famous for. I visit Swaraj Bhawan(Swaraj Bhavan is a large mansion located in Prayagraj, India, best known for once being owned by the Indian political leader Motilal Nehru and being home to the Nehru family until 1930.) it functions as a museum and opens for the public, it's a great place for those who are interested in history as you can see the remains of our freedom fighters and places where they planned their strategy. then I visit Jawahar Planetarium (a place where one takes on a celestial journey which makes the eyes twinkle like stars.) ticket price was only 40 rupees so it was good to spend some time relaxing there. at last, I went to prayagraj fort, it was built on the bank of Yamuna river, The fort is very great and its royalty is still visible by its ruins a great mirror to the past. that how I spent the last the day of my trip it was a great time spent in one of the oldest cities in India "the Sangam city". then I took my overnight bus from praygaraj to Delhi.

it was a great experience for me to know that city and about our ancient mythology. that city is worth a visit while Kumbh Mela.