KUMBH MELA...The Path to Immortality

From every corner of India, millions of pilgrims come together to revere one of Hinduism's most fundamental religious event. Kumbh Mela is the largest pilgrimage in the world and it occurs every 12 years.

During 55 days these pilgrims go to different celebrations linked to astronomical and astrological events. Many of them only go to submerge themselves in those sacred waters to purify their souls and others will submerge to renounce their earthly life forever.

The most important event is "Shahi Sean" The Royal Bath, where for centuries, Sadhus, Nagas and Babas bath in the water s that converge from the Ganges River, Yamuna River and the invisible and mythical Saraswati River in order to clean their sins and reach "Moksha" or salvation of the cycle of life.

The Naga Sadhus (Naked Saints and Warriors of Shiva) have the honor to go first and take The Royal Bath. With their bodies stained in "vibhuti" (holy ash) and adorned with flowers and rudrashkas they lead the procession towards the sacred Rivers.

The Naga Sadhus are almost fictional beings, they spend their lives meditating, smoking hashish or marijuana to avoid the distraction of the world. They live naked and all of them have taken vows of chastity following the path of penance and austerity to reach enlightenment and torch the ultimate truth. From the moment of iniciation a Naga Sadhu will consecrate his existence to worship Shiva and to perfect themselves as ascetic warriors. Some of them were delivered by their parents to a Guru, the others decided for themselves to leave the material world celebrating their own funeral, leaving their families and all material attachments.

There are four million Sadhus, all of them looking with sincere humility for enlightenment and spiritual immortality. They are rarely seen in public, it is a little known world that I hope will be preserved despite modernity.

Kumbh Mela is an act of great faith and devotion that has a mythological meaning that makes it an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO.