The MahaKumbh will return to Haridwar, bringing with it a sea of pilgrims and enormous logistics challenges in the middle of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Context
- The MahaKumbh will return to Haridwar, bringing with it a sea of pilgrims and enormous logistics challenges in the middle of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Key Highlights
- The Kumbh Mela in Haridwar takes place once every 12 years. In 2021, it will be taking place after 11 years, a phenomenon that is happening after 80 years.
- The city is being decorated with paintings and murals, which are linked to Hindu mythology.
- Chandighat, a new, 1 kilometre-long ghat, (funded by Indian Oil Corporation) has a 100-meter painting of a turtle, indigenous to the Ganga, by the renowned Mexican street artist Senkoe.
- The KumbhMelapresents a challenge in terms of controlling pollution in the Ganga, the responsibility for which is with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.
What is Kumbhamela?
- Kumbh Melaor Kumbha Mela is a major pilgrimage and festival in Hinduism.
- The dates for a pilgrimage to the Kumbh Mela are determined according to the VikramSamvat calendar.
- Kumbh Mela 2021 will begin on 14th January, on the auspicious occasion of Makara Sankranti.
- It is celebrated at four river-bank pilgrimage sites:
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- the Prayagraj(Ganges-Yamuna Sarasvati rivers confluence)
- Haridwar(Ganges)
- Nashik(Godavari)
- Ujjain(Shipra)
- The Kumbh Mela is classified as
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- The PurnaKumbhMela (sometimes just called Kumbhor "full Kumbha"), occurs every 12 years at a given site.
- The ArdhKumbhMela("half Kumbh") occurs approximately every 6 years between the two PurnaKumbhaMelas at Prayagrajand Haridwar.
- The MahaKumbh, which occurs every 12 PurnaKumbhMelas i.e. after every 144 years.
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International Recognition
- The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage under UNESCO has inscribed ´Kumbh Mela´ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
- In 2003, the UNESCO General Conference adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage.
- It encompasses traditions and living expressions.
- Intangible cultural heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts, and cultural spaces associated with them that communities, groups and,
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| Elements on the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage |
Year of declaration |
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1.KumbhMela
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2017 |
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2. Novruz, Yoga
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2016 |
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3. Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India
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2014 |
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4. Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of Manipur
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2013 |
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5. Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: the recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India
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2012 |
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6. Chhau dance; Kalbehlia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan; Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala
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2010 |
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7. Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India
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2009 |
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8. Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre; Tradition of Vedic chanting; Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana
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2008 |
