About the Khumba Mela

The Ardh Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Allahabad, there is also an annual Magha (Magh) Mela that is held every year at the Prayaga. The Maha Kumbh Mela ('Great' Kumbh Mela) which comes after 12 'Purna Kumbh Melas' which is after every 144 years is also held at Allahabad. The 2001, Maha Kumbh Mela was attended by around 60 million people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world

Kumbh Mela is attended by millions of people on a single day. The major event of the festival is a ritual bath at the banks of the rivers in each town. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardized

Kumbh Mela (especially the Maha Kumbh Mela) is the most sacred of all the pilgrimages. Thousands of holy men and women (monks, saints and sadhus) attend, and the auspiciousness of the festival is in part attributable to this.

The sadhus are seen clad in saffron sheets with plenty of ashes and powder dabbed on their skin per the requirements of ancient traditions. Some called nanga sanyasis or 'Digambars (sky-clad)' may often be seen without any clothes even in severe winter, generally considered to live an extreme lifestyle. This tends to attract a lot of western attention as it is seemingly in contrast to a generally conservative social modesty practised in the country.

Our voyage will take us from New Delhi by train to Haridwar for the day of bathing, to Rishikesh, to stay on an ashram, to Varanasi to witness the burning ghats, visit Sarnath and experience the mysticism of the ganges, to Dharamsala (little Tibet) the political seat of the Dalai Lama, and lastly to the beauties of Kashmir, where we'll stay in a houseboat on Lake Dal.

It will be a challenging, but exciting adventure...22 days in all! Early booking is $2250 until Jan 15th and $2350 thereafter.