The Kumbh

Seven million pilgrims are camped on the outskirts of Allahabad in a pole-and-canvas temporary metropolis–up to 50 million will rotate through over a 6-week period. Since time immemorial, people have gathered at this confluence of sacred rivers for spiritual cleansing; anyone who comes here and bathes at auspicious times–when Life Force is pouring down from the heavens–is guaranteed either promotion to the heavenly planets, or liberation—or at least a good job on Indian Railways. Kumbha Mela seems like the perfect place to showcase our Krishna Consciousness movement to the spiritual leaders of Hindu India, in one shot: everyone will be here. In fact, Prabhupad had anticipated the Mela, and, unknown to all but a few disciples in Calcutta, he had applied for a campsite months before, and had paid 8000 rupees for the pandal infrastructure. (We often couldn’t see it, how Srila Prabhupad was carefully planning everything.)