South India - Kumbh Mela Festivities
We flew into Southern India (Trivandrum International Airport) from Sri-Lanka, rented a car, and started to visit the sites – as suggested by the guide-books: Along the beautiful Kerala Arabian Sea coastline to Kochi (also known as Cochin), then inland to Tamil Nadu and the ancient city of Madurai with the 14 towers of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, to Chennai, on the Bay of Bengal and Pondicherry (or Puducherry) with its French colonial legacy.
However, the main purpose of our visit to South of India was the Kumbh Mela festivities and pilgrimage. Specifically The Allahabad Kumbh Mela.
The year was 2013 – the last Kumbh Mela in Allahabad was in 2001 and the next one will be in 2025!
It is estimated that over 120 million people visited Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad over a two-month period in 2015 and over 30 million on a single day, on 10 February 2013 (the day of Mauni Amavasya)
I never saw so many people in so confined a space!!! Pilgrims came from all over the Indian sub-continent; some have walked thousands of kilometers over a period of months, to be there, in that place, at the right time.
We were there for three days – we hardly had any sleep. Pilgrims, officials and tourists from all over the world came to bathe, to share and to learn. It was the experience of a lifetime, an affirmation of faith, a celebration of humanity and a festival of life.
Information about the Album ...
Title: South India & Kumbh Mela Festivities
Photographer: Deniz Bensason
Width: 27 cm
Height: 33.5 cm
Number of Pages: 163
Cover: Hard cover.
Additional Information: Printed on high quality gloss paper.
Laminated in matt silk to maintain maximum protection for the album.
Design & Layout: Nili Glick Studio.
South India from Trivanderum till Cochin with beautiful beaches and artistic villages full of always smiling and happy people.
Kumbh Mela festivities (2013) in Allahabad.
Around 100 million people ...
... streets and ashrams full with colorful men, women and children.
Excerpts from the South India Album
Pages 8-9: Kumbh Mela Festivities in the Ganges River in Allahabad
Page 22: Woman carrying big pot
Page 23: Working Women in the Rice Field (Ernakulam Kerala District)
Pages 32-33: Fishermen resting on the beach
Page 54: A view of houses
Page 55: A view of the rooftops
Pages 64-65: Puja Ceremony at Trivanderum
Pages 76-77: People bathe in the river
Pages 80-81: Women Bathe in the River
Pages 82-83: Immersing For the Kumbh Mela Festivities
Pages 96-97: Arriving for the Big Ceremony
Pages 104-105: Happening in the Streets
Page 110: Young Boys Painting Themselves (Front)
Page 111: Young Boys Painting Themselves (Back)
Page 112: Praying
Page 113: Nude on a Bicycle
Pages: 114-115 Nudes
Pages 120-121: Ashram Distributing Food