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Quest for immortality is
the driving force of the mankind
to make discoveries and to
understand the nature. This quest
finds different channels in the
realm of religion and
spirituality. Mankind may be
light-years away from moving
closer to physical immortality but
Moksha, the spiritual immortality
in Hindu tradition has all along
remained an attainable certainty.
How this quest for
immortality, Puranic legend tells
us, resulted in a war between
Devtas and Danavas over the
possession of a pitcher (Kumbha)
of ambrosia (Amrit) recovered from
the churning of the ocean. A few
drops of ambrosia, spilled at
Haridwar, Prayag, Nasik and Ujjain,
turned these cities into venues
for Kumbha Melas. Kumbha takes
place when several astronomical
conditions are fulfilled
simultaneously. For time
immemorial, Kumbha is being held
every 12 years, a cycle when these
conditions are fulfilled. In
particular, Kumbha at Ujjain is
known as Simhastha because one of
the conditions is that the Jupiter
should be in Leo sign (Simha Rashi)
of the Zodiac.
It is very difficult to
create a definite history of
Kumbhas and perhaps it hardly
matters to find out how and when
first Kumbha was held. What is far
more significant is the
continuation of a tradition for
thousands of years. Kumbha Melas
in India create a spectacle of
unsurpassable grandeur and faith
along with the outpourings of
divinity and spirituality. These
are the occasions when all-mundane
divisions just melt away and
diversities of the world are
harmonized perfectly.
Kumbha is the occasion to
have direct experience of
timelessness. This timelessness,
at one level, can be felt as the
devotees throng the banks of
sacred rivers with same veneration
as their forefathers did thousands
of years ago. Forward movement of
time has not dimmed in anyway the
intensity and joy of taking a dip
in the river Shipra in Ujjain. No
fewer than 30 million people are
expected to become part of
Simhastha – Kumbha this year in
Ujjain between April 5 and May 4.
For so long, no other event in the
human history has drawn so many
people. The growth in numbers of
people and the need to provide
better facilities to pilgrims
during Simhastha have posed a
great challenge to Madhya Pradesh
Government. Under the Chief
Minister Sushri Uma Bharti, the
entire state government has risen
to the challenge of taking care of
comforts of pilgrims. It was at
the initiative of Sushri Bharti
that Rs 750 million has been
sanctioned for bridging the gaps
in the preparations, in addition
to Rs 2170 million sanctioned
earlier by the state Government.
For building Mela-township,
2152 hectares of land divided into
four zones and 19 sectors have
been acquired. All facilities in
terms of water, electricity,
roads, toilets, medical care,
traffic and crowd management are
being provided in the township,
where akharas of Sadhus–Sants
would shift and devotees would
stay. The township would have 170
km long roads, 74 km long water
supply pipes and special
arrangements for electric supply.
Arrangements have been made to
supply of 11 million litres of
drinking water. Four power
sub-stations have been
commissioned for uninterrupted
power supply during the Kumbha
period. New ghats, 920 metre long,
on the banks of Shipra have been
added. Scientifically designed
signage system for Ujjain city and
Mela township is being installed
for easy movement of and proper
information to pilgrims. The
signage has been designed by the
National Institute of Design. For
the first time thousands of
permanent (pucca) toilets have
been constructed in the Mela area.
Six Hospitals with 10 beds, six
hospitals with 5 beds and eight
dispensaries are being set up to
provide medical assistance to the
people. Traffic would be
unidirectional in the city. Roads
leading to Ujjain are being
re-laid and strengthened. There
would be one inner ring road and
one outer ring road for easy
movement of traffic.
Seven historical tanks in
Ujjain, locally known as
Sapta-Sagar are being renovated so
as to restore their pristine glory
with an expenditure of about Rs 90
million. A massive drive is
already underway for development
of area around the Mahakaleshwar
temple. Provision of Rs 130
million has been made for
renovation of historical temples
strewn across the ancient city.
Steeped in divinity, the
holy city of Ujjain has witnessed
Lord Krishna in Sandeepani ashram
and inspired Kalidas to scale new
heights in Sanskrit literature.
The city is celebrated for the
most legendary king of India,
Vikramaditya, who is known as much
for his justice and dharma as for
valour and taste for culture. The
city has been a witness to
renunciation of Bharthari and his
meditation in caves. The Shipra
river winding around the city
testifies to ebb and flow of
history and to the eternal time
embodied in the Mahakala.
Geographically, the city is unique
because the Tropic of Cancer
passes through it, while an
observatory built in 18th century
by Raja Jai Singh adds to its
timelessness. The observatory has
been renovated to remind us of the
continuum of the tradition.
The legend says that Ujjain
is the seat of 84 Mahadevs, 64
Yoginis, 8 Bhairavs and 6 Vinayaks.
Described as the holiest city on
the earth in Adi Brahma Puran,
Ujjain represents what India was
in the past and how she has
evolved over the centuries,
retaining the sublime and
substantive core of the values
that enabled her to resurrect and
revive its civilization time and
again. The Simhastha celebrates
this transcendent spirit of Indian
civilization.
Rajeev
Moudgil
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