The Maha Kumbha Mela officially opens today with the first official ritual bath at the confluence of the Jamuna, Ganga and mythic Sarasvati Rivers. Preparations have been going on at a frantic rate for months now, supplying temporary power, lights, water, sanitation, building temporary roads and bridges, setting up communications and healthcare facilities, and allocating land for the approximately 60 million visitors expected. Pilgrims, saints, sadhus, swamis, beggars, healers, charlatans, government workers, police, military, vendors, and the curious and the devout from all walks of life all over India and the world are now pouring in foot, by train, by bus, and by all conveyances imaginable-including camels!

Only a week ago, the mile-wide flood plain was empty and dusty, marked by electric poles marching into the distance, row after row, lighting the empty plain at night like runways in a remote desert airport. Now colored lights flash on elaborate gates into the compounds of swamis, and a sea of tents, thatched huts, elaborate “cottages” with walls of brightly colored panels fringed with tassels, and topped with orange flags have transformed the atmosphere to one of a medieval fair. Teams of sweepers have cleaned the “roads”- a trail of steel planks lay end to end across the sands. Fifteen temporary bridges constructed of pontoons, (hollow cylinders of steel laid with planks), are jammed with jeeps, pedestrians, bicycles, horse-mounted police, scooters, and assorted motorized vehicles.

Public ritual bathing is the most visual of rites performed during the mela. The procession of various sects of swamis and sadhus formally marching to the ritual bath at the confluence of the rivers is a sight to behold. Accompanied by elephants, horses, camels, and live bands, the sadhus adorned in finery, or smeared with ashes, or completely unadorned, go marching into the water that is. The biggest parade is expected on January 24, the new moon, the most auspicious day astrologically for bathing. Other main bathing days are January 14th, the full moon, and January 29th.

On the main bathing days of the kumbha mela, the waters of the Sangam are positively charged due to the astrological alignment of heavenly bodies, giving the waters the same properties as amrit, the divine nectar said to confer immortality. With a history of intense practices done here for thousands of years, no doubt there is a special power in this place.

The Maha Kumbha Mela, which occurs in 144-year cycles, is an event of epic proportions. The last mela in Allahabad in 1989 attracted 35 million people and was the largest gathering of people in the history of mankind. Records show the Kumbha Mela began before 2nd century BC, and the sheer numbers of people attending this year’s event attest to its significance in Indian culture and globally among those interested in spiritual practices.