A pitcher of humanity: The evolving significance of the Kumbh Mela

Through history, the Mela has held different meanings for ascetics, the colonised, colonisers, and tourists-but all have been moved by its grandeur

Under the pen name “Kalkut,” meaning “life-taking poison,” the prolific Bengali writer Samaresh Basu authored a travelogue-style novel more than 70 years ago, titled Amrita Kumbher Sandhaney, which translates to “In Search of the Pitcher of Nectar.”

 

It was written in the backdrop of India’s first Mahakumbh after Independence in 1954. Like this year, there was an unfortunate incident of deaths due to a stampede that year too, although at a different scale. Hundreds lost their lives in the 1954 Kumbh stampede in Prayag, an event that was also woven into the novel’s plot. Notably, Amrita Kumbher Sandhaney has served