Hello travelers and #worldmappin community! This is my first post here after #pinmapple was reborn as #worldmappin. I would like to share about the Kumbh Parv celebration at Paradise Beach, Shiroda, where we have our Indian house. Kumbh Parv is a particular astrological event celebrated by people gathering together in Kumbh Mela. This is the largest congregation of pilgrims on earth, during which participants bathe in a sacred river. Devotees believe that bathing in the Ganges liberates them from the cycle of birth and death.
India is a big country with lots of small villages. During this special time, many people are not able to attend Kumbh Mela, so they celebrate Kumbh Parv at nearby spiritual places like holy rivers, or the sea. In our region, people gather at Paradise Beach together with local gods symbols, and special people who go into a trance. When those symbolic gods go to take a dip in the water, all the people follow them and also take a bath. It is a very special experience for this festive gathering every third year, While the site of Kumbh Mela rotates between four pilgrimages on the four sacred rivers at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik, compared to those places our celebration is tiny yet very joyful.
Here are some glimpses of this celebration.
People walking along the beach to attend.
When we arrived there were lots of people. And prayers started around the gods idols.
These symbolic umbrellas are made from colorful sarees; on the top are a small head and hands of goddesses specially made for this event. The umbrellas are cumbersome and heavy so they normally require 3-4 people to carry them. When the drums play a special rhythm, selected devotees slowly enter into a state of trance and connect with the spirit world. During this trance, the devotee relays messages from the spirits and carries an umbrella as easily as we carry one in the rain. Some temple priests/workers support them in the beginning as they enter into the trance.
many of the attendees are sensitive to the rhythms and while they do not go into a trance they certainly feel the heightened spiritual energy.
This is God's cart.
Many different carts were there.
The Kumbh Parv is a joyous celebration, starting from 10 am and lasting until 4 am. It is a wonderful spiritual experience. The beach, which is otherwise quiet and serene and most often empty, becomes filled with thousands of people that day.
Thank you very much for reading my blog.