Corona Daily 211: World’s Biggest Pilgrimage Kicks Off: Part Two

On day one, instead of the usual million, only seven hundred and eleven thousand (711,000) devotees arrived to perform rituals. Everyone coming to Kumbh mela was expected to carry a Covid-negative test certificate. The certificates would be checked randomly. There are no reports about this. A total of 974 people were fined, presumably for not wearing masks. Judging by the videos (1,2,3,4,5), this was also done on a random sampling basis.

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Records show that Haridwar Kumbh melas have been taking place since the early 1600’s.

During the 1783 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, a cholera epidemic had broken out. That year around 1.5 million attended the fair. Within the first eight days, more than 20,000 succumbed to cholera.

In 1891, a massive cholera epidemic claimed 724,384 victims. That year, the sanitation arrangements at the Kumbh mela were improved. 332 policemen were deployed with the exclusive, awkward duty of preventing people from defecating in the open. However, the mela still had a cholera outbreak. A ban was issued to prevent its spread. More than 200,000 pilgrims were asked to leave the area. The railway authorities were asked to stop issuing tickets on trains to Haridwar. By the end of the mela, 169,013 cholera deaths were reported in Haridwar.

Leonard Rogers records that following the Kumbh mela, this cholera epidemic spread to Europe via Punjab, Afghanistan, Persia and southern Russia that resulted in the Sixth Cholera Pandemic (1899-1923).

The Kumbh Mela of 1918 took place during the Spanish Flu Pandemic. The British colonial government cancelled all passenger trains. Despite that, the gathering was attended by three million devotees who travelled on foot or in bullock carts.

Shaunak Das, Director of the Oxford centre’s Hindu studies in the UK says it is not unexpected for Hindus to die on pilgrimage. Some even manage to get death certificates from authorities to save their families from bureaucratic hassle if they don’t return. To die on a pilgrimage is a reward in itself. Though the pilgrim is not necessarily aiming for it, it is nothing to be afraid of. Das adds pilgrimage in India was always risky, with diseases, mosquitoes, snakes and scorpions. This time the coronavirus is added to that list, that’s all.

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‘The pandemic is a bit of a worry, but we are taking all precautions’, said the chief organizer Siddharth Chakrapani, whose mask-less face is clearly visible in the videos. He expects about 1 million devotees to arrive on any given day, and 5 million on special days. There are more than 1000 CCTVs installed to manage the mela.

‘India is not like Europe. When it comes to immunity, we are better’ said Sanjay Sharma, a 50-year-old pilgrim. (Because of the better immunity, India has had only 10 million cases, and 150,000 deaths so far).

‘It’s really sad to see people not gathering at Kumbh in the same numbers as they would earlier, just because of a sneeze or a cough’ said a devotee disappointed to learn only 700,000 attended on the first day.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not arrived at the world’s largest gathering, because he is busy with the world’s largest covid vaccination campaign. However, on Thursday, he tweeted offering his best wishes.

“Makar Sankranti (the first day for Holy baths) is marked with enthusiasm in several parts of India. This auspicious festival illustrates India’s diversity and the vibrancy of our traditions.” His cheer-up tweet said. So as not to play spoilsport, his message didn’t mention Covid-19 or any of the precautionary measures.

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The third and final part tomorrow.

Ravi