The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage under UNESCO has inscribed ´KumbhMela´ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 12th session being held at Jeju, South Korea. This is the third such proud moment for India, after UNESCO gave the same recognition to Nauroz and Yoga in the last two years.
In 2003, the UNESCO General Conference adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage as an international treaty acknowledging that cultural heritage is more than tangible places, monuments and objects. Intangible cultural heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills that communities, groups andindividuals recognize as a part of their cultural heritage.
Traditionally, four fairs are widely recognized as the KumbhMelas: Haridwar, Allahabad, Nashik and Ujjain. They are held at each of these location by rotation, and the pivotal point is the presence of holy rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Shipra and Sarasvati at each of these locations.
The Hindu religion believes in the re-incarnation of the soul, and the achievement of immortality when the karmic cycle balances out the good and bad deeds from each life. A bath in these holy rivers is believed to cleanse the soul, and hence, thousands gather on the bank of a holy river for a divine dip.
The exact age of the festival is uncertain. According to medieval Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu dropped drops of Amrita or nectar at four places, while transporting it in a kumbha orpot. These four places are identified as the present-day sites of the KumbhMela.
The Naga and Aghoribabas who are believed to descend the Himalayan heights only during a Kumbhmela lend a more exotic air to the festival.
The Indian heritage is duly recognised as the UNESCO acclaims the KumbhMela as the largest peaceful pilgrimage.
