Spiritual High

Picx Courtesy: PK DAS







Inside the tents on the banks of river Ganga, as part of the Ardh Kumbh Mela, is practised a special way of life. Devotees sing bhajans and keertans (hymns) all day long, eat restricted diet and sleep on the ground.

This life philosophy, called Kalpvaas, is known to be followed only in Prayagraj, the city of Allahabad.

“The main thing is how you can control your psycho or bio system. After Kalpvas, they feel some balancing of the chemicals,” says Swami Avdhesha Nand.

The popularity of the term, which is not new for the Indian devotee, is rising among visitors from across the world. Balkrishan, a devotee from England is practicising Kalpavaas at the Kumbh this time.

“We live very simply. And in that way of living simple we can concentrate more on Krishna, Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati,” says Balkrishana.

Even Sanak Sanatan who is also from England can rattle off quotes from books on Kalpvaas.
“In order to purify your soul, we should stay on the banks of Mother Ganga for atleast one month,” says Sanak Sanatan.

Robert from Poland, who like many visitors to the Kumbh, had come in search of enlightenment. But he discovered Kalpavaas instead.

“It’s supposed to be austere. But I’m having a lot of fun. It seems quite hard getting up in the morning. But I accept this. It’s nice being part of the Indian culture and having the Krishna prasad,” says Robert

Kumbh is a motley of different kinds of Kalpvaasis where most of them come in search of purity of the being.

But there are also many others for whom this one month of tent life is all about picnic, business and missed opportunities getting rediscovered.

NY