It is indeed wonderful to witness the largest convergence of human beings at one single spot that began on Makar Sankranti at Prayag. The expectation of an auspicious dip at the Triveni Sangam where the three holy rivers — Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati — meet increases the faith and fervour of a devotee who not only hopes for the forgiveness for his/her past sins but also prays for God’s abundant blessings.
Have you ever wondered how millions of ordinary people who otherwise won’t put even their fingers in cold water jump in the icy cold water of the Sangam? I believe it is their way of expressing their desire to reach higher state of holiness in their lives.
Similar gatherings also happen with followers of other religions. A huge number of people gather every year at Ka’aba for their Haj and during the Urs at the dargah of Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. Similarly, there is a big gathering of people during the feast of Mount Mary in Bandra or at Our Lady of Vellankany in Tamil Nadu. A similar flow of devotees is also witnessed at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Thus, one finds, particularly in India, that people of all religions rush to their holy places in hordes for a touch of divinity. The faithful are also seen taking a lot of pain in undertaking pilgrimages to places like Amarnath and Mecca. In some of the Christian pilgrimage centres, and even Hindu temples, devotees even crawl to the sanctum sanctorum.
Besides their faith in the Almighty who forgives their sins and grants them rich blessings, this tendency also indicates that deep down people aspire to become more holy and to imbibe godly virtues. Thus we find that after Jesus had taught his listeners about who the “Blessed” are, he concluded by saying, “Therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Similarly, God says in the Bible, “For I am the Lord your God; ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 11: 14). Here “sanctify” would mean making oneself clean and pure from sin, something that the faithful try to do at the Kumbh or at other pilgrimage places.
I believe that one way of getting rid of evil in society is to first get rid of that evil from within ourselves by treading the path of holiness. One must also take seriously those who criticise religious rituals as something superficial and prove to them otherwise by showing them improvement in our lives after a “holy dip” during the Kumbh or after we return from our pilgrimage.
Father Dominic Emmanuel, a founder-member of Parliament of Religions, is the director of communication of the Delhi Catholic Church.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/father-dominic-emmanuel-614
