The Story of the Mela

A long time ago, two sadhus prayed and bathed at the confluence of the rivers Ganga and Yamuna. They were brothers, Kumbh and Nikumbh. They were learned men, revered by all.

The brothers had decided to go into meditation: The elder brother Kumbh would travel to the Himalayas while Nikumbh would retreat by the sea into the ancient temple of the Sun.  As they parted, they decided to meet again at the confluence of the holy rivers in the future, and share their experiences.

“It would take me a few months to reach my chosen spot in the Himalayas, a few years to meditate, and then a few months to come back here. When Jupiter returns to its current position travelling through the 12 groups of stars, we too shall return”, said Kumbh.

“We will instruct and learn from each other, and our learnings will be a blessing to the world. If you do not find me here, you must assume the worst, because there is no way I will break my word to my dear brother.”

Nikumbh promised Kumbh to meet him at the agreed time. “If poor health prevents me from coming back, I shall send word”, he said. They departed from the confluence, walking along the banks of Ganga, to their respective destinations.

On the fourth day of his travel, Nikumbh reached Banaras and stayed at an ashram where students learnt and recited the Vedas. The sadhus and the students welcomed Nikumbh with the respect due to a learned man. They asked him to tell them tales of yore that carried the wisdom of their ancestors. Nikumbha told them the story of a little kid who rejected all temptations and insisted that the God of Death tell him what happens after death.

Even as he spoke, Nikumbh was struck by realization of his own mortality – how could he know what would happen by the time Jupiter returned to its spot, for the distant planet takes 4,333 days to travel through the 12 constellations! Who knew when the God of Death would pull a little string and snatch his soul away? What did a God on a buffalo care about promises made by men?

Nikumbh was not afraid of death, he was afraid of disappointing his brother Kumbh. If he did not return, would his dear brother think that he had forgotten his promise?

He spoke aloud his fears. The eldest of the sadhus replied, “No one knows what would happen in the time Jupiter completes a cycle, and no one knows what would happen tomorrow. You do not know if you will live long enough to keep your promise, and I do know if I will live long enough to complete this sentence.”

“I cannot rid you of your fears, but I will assure you of this: when Jupiter returns to the Bull, some disciples from our Ashram will travel to the holiest of confluences and seek out Kumbh. If they find him, they will inform your learned brother how you remembered him and the pact. They will take a dip at the spot where the waters of the two great rivers meet, just as you did before you bid goodbye to your brother.”

Greatly relieved by these words of sadhu, Nikumbh continued on his journey. He visited several ashrams, mathhs and temples and met many sadhus and priests, and they all offered to carry his words to his brother Kumbh in the year Jupiter retuned to the Bull. He left the banks of Ganga, he walked through dense forests, he climbed up steep hills, he climbed down deep ravines, he waded through water one day, he strode without water on another, he travelled through grasslands, he walked in meadows full of flowers, he trudged through abandoned villages by dry rivers, he bypassed teeming towns near gushing rivers, he walked, he walked, he walked till he reached the derelict temple of the Sun. There, he sat down with his legs crossed, and meditated.

Meanwhile, his elder brother Kumbh travelled along the Ganga travelling through the towns of Kannauj and Haridwar to reach the Shivaliks. He told the sadhus of these places ancient stories of the kid who did not know his father but grew to know the ultimate truth, of the golden womb that created everything, the proud king of gods who changed his form for a man’s wife, and of the two sages of yore who discussed the number of gods. He told them about his brother and they offered to travel to the city of confluence in the year Jupiter returned to the Bull, to tell Nikumbh that Kumbh remembered his promise and to take the holy bathe that is salvation to the soul.

Kumbh continued on his journey through the Shivaliks, into ever-higher mountains of Himalayas, till he saw an ice-cave shaped like a cow’s mouth from which the sacred water gushed out. There, he sat down with his legs crossed, and meditated.

Twelve years passed, and Jupiter having completed a cycle, was back amidst the group of stars that together look like a bull to some people. The sadhus and disciples reached the confluence, some carrying the message of Kumbh, and others seeking Kumbh, and all bathing in the holy waters.

Seeing so many learned men in one place, the kings joined them in taking a dip, and then the ministers and the traders and the goldsmiths and the blacksmiths, the cobblers and the barbers, the horsemen and cow-herders, the farmers and the potters, they all gathered there and took a dip in the holy waters. This was the first Mela.

The kings asked the sadhus the reason for what they were doing. The sadhus replied they were there for Kumbh since Jupiter had returned to its spot in the Bull and they had bathed in the confluence because they believed that a dip in the holy waters absolved them of all sins of this life and of lives past. And since then, every time Jupiter completes a cycle, people gather at the confluence for Kumbh and to bathe in the holy waters. If you ask them, they will tell you that it is a tradition so old that nobody knows how it started. But now you know.