The largest gathering of people in the world was scheduled in the country. What would it look like? I was both eager and anxious to witness the scene. This is how I finally landed in Haridwar, the city I have wanted to visit for years. Kumbh Fair 2010 became the ultimate driving force.
Once I made up my mind, I wasted no second in making a move to the holy city. I boarded a bus from New Delhi. The fight to grab a seat on the bus for the overnight journey amidst the huge mob wanting to reach Haridwar was a preview to the war ahead and to the challenge of not getting lost. More than 20,000 visitors got lost and were later found at this mammoth human fair. On entering Haridwar, I found myself either stepping on or being stepped on by someone. People, people everywhere, and even during the twilight hour! I soon realised that I should have visited here before to save myself from the large mob. Attending the fair on the last big day wasn’t a great idea either! Instead of witnessing 2.5 million people (on the first day of Maha Kumbh – January 14) taking a dip in the Ganges, I was witness to more than 15 million devotees. The rare planetary position at the time of Shahi Snan on April 14 occurred just once in 4,444 years and attracted this huge crowd to this holy town...
Cover story (Travel) for the American magazine DeshVidesh (May 2010). Desh-Videsh magazine, is widely circulated in the southeast US. Readers hail from Florida, Georgia, Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The magazine reaches a varied audience of over 50,000 Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, and Indo-Caribbeans.
