Mela madness

The frenzy continues to build at the Kumba mela. This is the main day for the entire three month festival! There are approximately 1.2 million of us here at this point in time. One can barely move through the crowd of people.

The noise is incredible and of course I only hear half of it. Not sure how the others cope. The only thing that makes it bearable is Shiva’s Drum. There is a constant low hum of mantra chanting and drumming that plays 24/7 as a background to all other sounds. I try to block out the rest and walk to the beat of the drum. I sleep to beat to the drum and awake to the beat of the drum.

What’s so incredible about it is there are thousands of drummers drumming all over the camps and somehow it all becomes one perfect rhythm. But then we are in India and it has it’s own rhythm, timeless and in harmony with all things.

A few of us make our way in Patanjalis temple outside the village to see the Shiva LIngam. The Infinite feels so accessable here. Everything has such a sense of sacredness. People come and go. Some make offerings some stay for puga with the temple priest, others simply pass through. The incense hangs in the air along with the sound of Om. We drink it all in and our cup runneth over.

The LIngam signifies that creation is effected by the union of ‘Prakriti’ and ‘Purusha,’ the male and the female powers of Nature.
They are two aspects of one Self never separate from each other, form and formlessness. It’s stands as a representation in outer form to help us remember our true nature of the inner formless spirit not two just one.

Om Nama Shivia
Jude