The travels of Bengalis in the past
Sumana Dam
(Continued from the last part)
Jadunath Sarbadikari wrote: "On the full moon night of Phalguni, during the time of the flower festival (phooldol) in Sri Vrindavan, a fair of the Kumbh Mela is held. This fair occurs once every twelve years. Initially, the fair in Vrindavan revolves around the flower festival, and later, it proceeds to Haridwar."
Jadunath Sarbadikari traveled from Vrindavan to Haridwar in March 1855 to bathe in the Kumbh Mela. He reached Haridwar on the 15th of Chaitra, 1261, and visited the Kumbh Mela from the 21st to the 30th of Chaitra. In other words, the grand Kumbh was held in Haridwar in April 1855. He also mentioned that the Kumbh that follows the twelfth Kumbh is called the Mahakumbh. The term Kumbh is used because it refers to the time when Jupiter is in the Kumbha (Aquarius) zodiac sign, and during that time, the Mahavisubha Sankranti occurs. The bathing takes place at Har ki Pauri. It is noted that at that time, the East India Company was in power in India.
Many people from different countries gathered at the Haridwar Mahakumbh Mela. Approximately one and a half crore people came. Settlements and markets extended up to three kroshes in all directions. There was such a shortage of space that people did not have a place to rest. Walking through the crowd, one risked getting suffocated. The East India Company had arranged that once a person went down a certain path, they could not return on the same path. To monitor this arrangement, guards with sticks were patrolling at various points. Two boat bridges had been set up over the Ganges: one in front of the Neel Parvat and the other near Har ki Pauri. One bridge allowed travel from the west bank to the east bank, and the other from the east bank to the west bank.
The fair had countless shops: those selling various goods, blankets, and Kashmiri shawls; brass, bronze, copper, and iron items; shops selling Tulsi, Bilva, and Palash; white stone utensils and furnishings; toy shops, etc. Fruits like mangoes, grapes, apricots, raisins, almonds, pistachios, and various pickles and spices from Kabul, Kandahar, Kashmir, and other places were available. There were shops for betel, tobacco, and hookahs made from clay, wood, brass, bronze, coconut, and stone. Apart from bottle gourd, all kinds of vegetables were available. Hundreds of pickle shops offered a variety of pickles from Punjab, Lahore, and Delhi. Some unique pickles included those made from potatoes, bitter gourd, papaya, drumstick flowers, drumstick stems, lotus stems, and other vegetables. Vendors of preserves displayed various colors and types, including mango, amla, haritaki, raisins, and lemons. Sweet shops offered a variety of sweets like laddu made from mung beans, urad dal, fenugreek, besan, and other ingredients, along with amriti, jalebi, rasgulla, khurma, barfi, peda, and gujiya. Dairy vendors sold kheer, milk, curd, rabri, butter, and cream. Snack vendors offered puffed rice, chana, corn, peas, jowar, and bajra. The poor bought these snacks for a single paisa, filled their stomachs, and then drank Ganges water. There were also shops selling various herbal medicines, sandalwood fans, and ritual items. Shops selling bamboo sticks, mats, and other items made by Dom craftsmen were also present. Many pilgrims filled their pots with Ganges water and sealed them with tin caps and seals to take home. Thus, tin caps and seals were also sold in abundance. Various swings (nagar dolas) were set up at different places in the fair. For one paisa, one could enjoy three swings.
Various thieves and pickpockets came to the fair in different disguises. They would steal from distracted individuals. Some even stole jewelry from wealthy women by sneaking underwater. Police patrols were in place, capturing hundreds of thieves and confining them. Temporary shelters were set up for magistrates and senior police officers. At Har ki Pauri, police officials sat on elephants to oversee the ghats. The ghats were very crowded, and people were not allowed to stay in the water for long or go more than two or three feet deep. Approximately two lakh animals (cows, elephants, horses, camels) came for the fair, and food supplies were continuously arriving from the villages for them.
There were various akharas (ascetic shelters) where the akhara heads or mahants provided food to their disciples as well as to the poor and needy. Various sages performed different penances: some stood on one leg, some with raised arms, some on iron spikes, some on fire, while others were silent, fruitarians, or engrossed in smoking hashish. Formerly, armed Naga soldiers accompanied these mahants. Disputes over who would bathe first among the mahants could sometimes lead to violence. To prevent this, the East India Company decreed that no one could bathe with weapons. Company soldiers surrounded the mahants during their bathing. Additionally, bamboo barriers were set up to prevent trampling deaths. Each ascetic’s procession included forty camels, a hundred horses, and twelve well-decorated elephants, with thousands of disciples, two hundred Paramahamsas, and a hundred dandi carrying various items. After the mahants finished bathing, other ascetics began their baths, accompanied by disciples, elephants, horses, and camels. The bathing of the Bikaner king followed, with thirty thousand attendants. After an extravagant display of wealth and countless donations, the king's bathing concluded, and then the bathing of other kings took place. The officials of the company, that is, the Rajpurush, performed their duties with tireless effort, which is why no loss of life occurred. Many fell ill due to heatstroke. There were people to move them from the location and arrangements were made for their treatment with doctors. The bathing continued until one o'clock at night on the day of Sankranti. Even after the Sankranti bathing, the fair continued for another week. The fair was finally concluded by setting fire to the temporary structures.
(To be continued)
In this episode, the period of the diary is from 21st Chaitra 1261 (4th April 1855) to 30th Chaitra 1261 (13th April 1855).
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