By Teresa Guerra
Jan 26th – I arrived at Blessed Prayagraj! No SIM card was available at the airport. Oh well, we’ll figure it out. I left from Prayagraj airport in a taxi towards the Khumba Mela camp a little after 3:00 pm. Once we were getting closer to the area, the traffic was moving very slowly. Lots of people walking, motorists, cars, 3-wheelers, bikes…were all sharing the same road. I thought about how much devotion people had! Many of them were carrying their luggage on their shoulders or heads… and walking for such long distances! Jai Maa!
Kumbha Mela (Festival of the ‘Sacred Pitcher’) originates in the story of the Churning of the Ocean, where Lord Indra’s son took the pot (kumbha) of nectar (amruta) and ran. According to one version, drops of nectar spilled at 4 places on earth. Another version has it that he kept the pot down at 4 spots to catch a breath, before reaching the heaven. Those four spots became sites for Kumbha Mela. At any site, the same constellation of stars appears every 12 years. And so, Kumbha Mela gets held at a site every 12 years, attracting millions of people. In Prayagraj, this year more than 400 million people took a dip in the first few weeks itself! It is a great place of pilgrimage. (Reference: Friday Feb 7, 2025: "Stories from Srimad Bhagavatam" by Swami Yogatmananda)
We were stuck in the traffic for one hour. It was already 5:00 p.m. The driver, who spoke little English, told me that there were still 2 kilometers remaining before getting to the camp, but he couldn’t go any further. He added that he had a brother who could bring me to the camp on his motorcycle. The brother met us; he was fluent in English. We left on the motorcycle with luggage and backpack. We got to Sector 19-where the RKM Sevashrama was, by 6:00 pm. However, we didn’t know where specifically the Ashrama was. I had no access to WhatsApp; the gentleman allowed me to use his WIFI to contact the person that Jitendra referred me to for information about the event. After a few attempts, the contact person transferred me to a Swami who sent the google map specifications. We went on the motorcycle for 6 more minutes. After a journey of 36 hours, I had finally arrived!
I registered and went to the Shrine. Later, while I was talking to a Swami in his office, Srilatha (devotee from Providence) showed up! I knew she was already there but had not met her yet. Srilatha, is a doctor and was volunteering at the RKM medical camp for two weeks during the Kumbha Mela. She told me that she had an extra SIM card that I could use it until my departure on the 31st. This was Mother’s plan! Eventually, we had dinner and then retired. To be continued...
The shrine in the camp
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