More than 1000 gather at the California Kumbh Mela

PP Shri Kakamaharaj is in California these days. He was invited to attend the Kumbh Mela that gets organized every year, in Southern California, on a Sunday prior to Sept. 11. Following paragraphs have been taken from an article written by one of the sadhaks named Mrs. Victoria Truver.

The participants gathered in the parking lot of Sanatan Dharma Mandir in anticipation of the beginning of the 2007 Kumbha Mela. Intricate chariots, huge decorated temple umbrellas, and specially constructed parade floats, designed to carry the many large murtis, vied for space with cars and trucks in the parade line. Some groups had constructed special platforms to hold garlanded framed pictures of their Gurus. Sadhaks carried banners to identify their marg.

At the head of the procession Nityananda’s devotees waved a sea of white and blue pennants. Even as it prepared to begin the Kumbha Mela was already a feast of color, sound and texture.

A 12-foot green-faced Kathakali dancer on stilts swayed in the breeze that began to disperse the heat and give some relief. Two of Swami Vishwananda’s devotees dressed as butterflies seemed about to fly away on their wings of colorful multi-hued sheer fabric.

The procession slowly walked from Sanatan Dharma Temple to Excelsior High School. Traffic crawled along on Pioneer Boulevard allowing the parade to pass. Many cars stopped to view the participants and accept some of the many items of literature being handed out. Local residents stopped along the sidewalks to view the procession as it passed, ask questions and receive literature and information.

The Kumbha Mela attracted representatives from margs around the world. Swami Vishwananda arrived from Mauritius. Shri Narayan Kaka Maharaj Dhekane arranged his trip to the U.S. from Nasik, specifically to attend the Mela. His sadhaks came from all over California to attend the event and walk in the procession with him. While one dikshit held a golden ceremonial umbrella to shield him from the sun, a second carried a chair for him to rest and a third bore the garlanded framed photograph of Paramaguru H.H. Loknath Tirth. When main disciple Dr. Shamsunder Deshpande asked Swami Vishwananda to chant “Digambara Digambara” using his microphone, Swami Vishwananda walked back to the place where Kaka Maharaj waited and invited him to walk together. For the rest of the procession the two holy men walked side by side and the two margs seemed joined as one as the sadhaks blended into one group.

After 2 hours the parade finally ended on a field at the high school where a tent had been constructed to seat the swamis during the Maheshwara Pooja when traditional Respect was paid to all the Swamis of the Mela. This was followed by abhishek of all deities in the pool containing tirth waters from 5 sacred rivers.

The swamis and deities were then brought to the main area where the holy men were sequestered in an enclosed tent and the murtis were placed in a second tent for arati. Onstage the organizers of the program, Swami Nityananda, Yogesh Acharya and Vedanta Society’s Swami Sarvadevananda each spoke for 5 minutes on peace.

The All-World Gayatri Pariwar performed bhajans on stage while a 51-kund havan took place on the ground directly below. A cultural program concluded this year’s mela. While it is impossible to accurately calculate the attendance, at least 1,000 were present.