21st Century Kumbh

Occurring every 12 years, the spectacular Kumbh Mela – a Hindu pilgrimage to the confluence of the holy Ganga, Jamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers – is the largest human gathering on earth. At the 2013 festival, 100 million performed traditional, ceremonial bathing rites in the holy waters, having travelled thousands of kilometres from all over India and across the globe.

Pilgrims gather and stay in the Kumbh Nagar a 58km2 ‘pop-up’ tented-city built on the dried river-bed of the Ganga, this huge, temporary construction is made up of Akhara’s (spiritual centers), pilgrim encampments, hospitals, police stations, post offices, fires stations, restaurants, shops, banks, railway offices and bathing areas .

21st Century Kumbh offers an insight into the delicate equilibrium of tradition and technology, religious and civil organisation that exists within it. This is a snapshot of a changing India, at a point when its religious heritage and technological development are battling to find a crucial balance.

21st Century Kumbh
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21st Century Kumbh

Occurring every 12 years, the spectacular Kumbh Mela – a Hindu pilgrimage to the confluence of the holy Ganga, Jamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers – is the largest human gathering on earth. At the 2013 festival, 100 million performed traditional, ceremonial bathing rites in the holy waters, having travelled thousands of kilometres from all over India and across the globe.

Pilgrims gather and stay in the Kumbh Nagar a 58km2 ‘pop-up’ tented-city built on the dried river-bed of the Ganga, this huge, temporary construction is made up of Akhara’s (spiritual centers), pilgrim encampments, hospitals, police stations, post offices, fires stations, restaurants, shops, banks, railway offices and bathing areas .

21st Century Kumbh offers an insight into the delicate equilibrium of tradition and technology, religious and civil organisation that exists within it. This is a snapshot of a changing India, at a point when its religious heritage and technological development are battling to find a crucial balance.

21st Century Kumbh
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Caption
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Kumbh Nagar, Akhara Encampments, sector 4 (temporay).
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Pilgrim - Ramaldoo Das, from Bihar.
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Pilgrims arriving and departing, sector 5.
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Akhara religious centre (temporary).
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Sadhu - Haribhajam Das, from Ayodhya.
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Pilgrim, Mamta Dubey and infant.
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Pilgrims resting and eating, sector 2.
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Unknown Pilgrim.
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Pilgrims bathing, Sangam main bathing area.
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Unknown Pilgrim.
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Pilgrims - Aunj Kumar & Khusboo Awastihi, from Hardoi & Bareilly.
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Sangam area, morning of Feburary 10th 2013, the main bathing day.
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Naga sadhu performing a puja.
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Pilgrim - Bhagwatsharan, from Ayodhya.
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Ramayana play performed in an Akhara theatre (temporary).
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Traveller - Victoria Havercroft, from UK.
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Vodafone kiosk, main marketplace (temporary).
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Pilgrim - Suresh Venkat, from Mumbai.
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Pilgrim - Ashish Antia-Mody, from Mumbai.
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Reserve Bank of India kiosk, main marketplace (temporary).
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Unknown Pilgrim.
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Pilgrim - Ankita Singh, from Allahabad.
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Coca Cola advertising banners hang from the railway bridge, sector 10.
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Cement bag weightings in the River Ganges.
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Unknown western pilgrim.
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Head of Police - R.K.S. Rathore S.S.P.
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Police control massed crowds at the Sangam main bathing area, sunrise February 10th, main bathing day.
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Pilgrim - Ram Katori Bhai, lost from Gawaliar.
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Pilgrim - Lely Kumar, lost from Kasi.
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Burnt down Akhara, Kumbh Nagar, sector 4.
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Fireman - Bharat Rai.
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Central Hospital (temporay).
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Head of Medical & Health Services - Dr Suresh Dwivedi.
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Office of Medical & Health Services.
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Assistant Malaria Officer - Anand Kumar Singh.
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Head of Medical Sanitation Store - Dr Arun Kumar.
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Morning anti-dust spraying of temporary roads.
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Journalist - Vimal Srivastava.
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International Media Centre (temporary).
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Chief Administrator of Kumbh Mela - Mani Prasad Mishra.
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The Sangam - the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers.