The Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest religious gathering, in fact it’s the world’s largest gathering of any kind, ever. Millions of pilgrims travel across India and from across the globe to take a dip in the sacred Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers during the festival. It is believed that by bathing on specific, auspicious dates, releases one’s self from sins and gains salvation or freedom from the cycle of re-birth. I’m here with ten hard-core, highly motivated, enthusiastic, energetic, visual story tellers who’ve come halfway across the globe to take part in my Kumbh Mela 2013 photo tour!
We’re staying in comfortable tents on the Mela grounds, not far from the main bathing area. Amazingly I have some internet connectivity through the 3G service on my cell phone, but sadly, with a million or so people trying to connect, the upload speeds are really slow. So, I’ll share as many images as I can, as often as I can, but my posts won’t contain my usual 20-plus images. Here are a few shots from our first day. Enjoy.
Participating photographer Robbie Hamper gets the shot.
