One of the world’s largest and oldest spiritual gatherings, the Kumbh Mela takes place on the banks of four sacred rivers in the Indian cities of Haridwar, Nashik, Ujjain and Prayagraj. Held at each location approximately every 12 years on a rotational basis, the Kumbh Mela is a revered period of pilgrimage for Hindus across different traditions. The next Kumbh Mela takes place at Prayagraj (confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswat), between January 13th to February 26th, 2025. In addition to lay Hindus, the Kumbh is one of the largest gatherings of Hindu monks, spiritual leaders and scholars. So, alongside performing rituals and taking sacred baths, the Kumbh is a time of intellectual exchange and spiritual dialogue.
During this upcoming Kumbh, the Oxford Sanskrit Text Society is leading a study trip to Prayagraj between 17-27th January 2025. Taking students and those who are interested in Hindu Dharma and philosophy, the trip will involve exploring Sanskrit texts, Hindu philosophy and Yoga as well as taking part in an immersive study of Hindu practice.
NHSF and London based thinktank; International Centre for Sustainability (ICFS), are partner organisations for this initiative. One of the organisers, Nitish Rai Parwani from the ICFS, shares more about what delegates will experience: “Kumbh Mela–with over 100 million people from almost all schools of Dharmic faiths coming together–is a testimony of vastness of Hindu culture and spiritual traditions, and of aspects of sustainability at which a gathering of this scale is managed every 12 years for centuries.”
Image credit: Prashant Kharote, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, edits made