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Nirvana
Arthur Veríssimo goes deep into India, right into the marrow of
the globe's major religious crowd, meeting 800 thousand 800 mil
Saddhus, being who renounce sex, do not speak,
and stand in the scalding Sun with a pot full of embers on
their heads.
By Arthur Veríssimo Perplexed at the number of peoples before my fives senses, I dragged myself like a serpent on the banks of the sacred Ganges, alongside the city of Hardwar, Northwestern India. At each step or glance a multitude of situations and experiences exploded all around. This is the time and place of the most important Hindu faith festival , called Khumb Mela, with over 14 million Indians crowding the river for a sacred bath and to cleanse and purify their souls. I witnessed a multitude of pilgrims from all around India, with the broadest array of turbans, colors and fabrics I ever saw. The merciless Sun was about to melt my skull. Thousands of individuals drank, shat and cooked
all around. To finish up, I decided to take a swim among the crowds.
The plunge went down in my personal history for two reasons:
How to become a Saddhu
For the Saddhu, the security and comfort of a home are entirely discarded. Vows of poverty are of essence. Saddhus own only the minimum necessities and live on donations of the devout. Their lifestyle is archaic, making them appear like creatures out of the Bronze Age and the time of caves. Saddhus abandon their homes and renounces all social obligations. Who are they: The globe's greatest crowd
KM draws millions of pilgrims. The latest, held in April '98, led more than 15 million people to the city of Hardwar (the Guinness record as regards religious agglomerations). The event also became a major Saddhu convention, where they reunite, celebrate and exchange blessings. There, thousands of Saddhus get promoted and novice are initiated. The first record of the festival was made by Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsiang in the 7th Century. The second known record dates from 1822 and reports very few pilgrims, as the British already ruled the Indian subcontinent and, in the venality typical of settlers, they established a pilgrimage tax. Faces To show the lengths to which holy men will go to attain spiritual illumination, we publish a listing of the strangest men of the modern civilization
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To
become a holy man is one of the ways to transcend the social pressures
of our times. For the Saddhus, this implies reprogramming body and mind
through several methods: no sex, religious discipline, meditation, austerity.
Without a doubt, what motivates ordinary citizens to become part of the
"Saddhu Brotherhood" is the desire of spiritual illumination
along with renouncement of the world of appearances and mundane pleasures.
All this must be cast aside by holy men.
Khumb
Mela made the Guinness Book of Records: it is the greatest religious meeting
in History.
Khumb
Mela is the chief Hindu religious festival. It takes place every twelve
years, alternating among the Indian cities of Allahabad, Ujain, Hardwar
and Nasik. This twelve-year cycle is closely connected to the movement
of Jupiter across the Zodiac. Choice the four sites is based on the belief
that, every twelve years, the great battle between Deities and Demons
for the holy pot that contained the nectar of immortality (Khumb)must
be celebrated. During the battle, Jupiter entered into Aquarius and the
Sun into Aries - a position that repeats itself every twelve years - purifying
the Ganges and thereby favoring purification and meditation. Four droplets
of the nectar would have hit the Earth at the cities above .