Lessons Of Harmony at the Kumbha Mela

It has ever since been an agreed fact that big communities are always marred by instances of violence, hatred and crowd related problems. However the largest single gathering of people on Earth could hold the secret and teach how big communities can live together in harmony, discipline and accord.

Psychologists who completed a 3 year research in the area of crowd dynamics at the Kumbha Mela discovered findings that overturned many old beliefs about crowd behaviour. The Kumbha Mela is expected to bring together the equivalent of six times the population of Scotland in one place, yet there is virtually no disorder or rioting of the masses.

What the researchers found was that even though people at the festival came from different castes and social backgrounds, there was a strong sense of common identity relating to serenity and tranquil peace. Many even suggested that this stemmed from the lack of ‘them-and-us’ psychology which is believed to be the root cause of various social evil. Despite the fact that the mela seems to increase stress in various aspects like being too noisy, too crowded & polluted, not too healthy etc… it was found that the pilgrims had an unstressed, serene and peaceful feeling.

The findings actually question the basic fundamentals about the nature of collective participation and how it affects both individual well being and social cohesion. Drawn parallel to the western society where there is a marked distinction between the immigrants and non-immigrants, Kumbha Mela seems to stand by the idealogy that it is the responsibility of every individual to avoid doing anything to entrench a "them-and-us mentality" between communities and thereby disrupting social cohesion. It was also discovered that people at the Kumbha Mela are more orderly, supportive, generous and attentive to the needs of strangers and hence the well being of the social ambience. Another vital lesson and a very important one for people from all over the world and from all walks of life to realize and understand from the essence of Kumbha Mela

Come and experience the next Kumbha Mela with www.kalpavasi.com at Haridwar, India. The Mela starts on the 1^st Jan 2010 and ends on April 30^th 2010.