Adventures to India
As we enter the new year, I am embarking on a journey of profound personal significance. In February, I will take a pilgrimage to India to partake in the Kumbha Mela, the world’s largest and most sacred religious festival. Held every 12 years when the extraordinary alignment of celestial bodies awakens and intensifies the transformative power of the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers in the northern city of Prayagraj (Allahabad). This spiritual pilgrimage draws an estimated 400 million devotees and is a time of deep spiritual cleansing, self-realization, and connection with the divine.
The Kumbha Mela is steeped in ancient legend and cosmic significance. Kumbha meaning pot or vessel and Mela meaning prayer. The human body becomes the vessel of transformation through prayer and practice. Rooted in the story of gods and demons battling over a sacred pitcher containing the nectar of immortality, the festival centers around ritualistic holy baths, believed to purify the soul and wash away lifetimes of samskaras. The energy of the festival is electric, with vibrant processions of saints and devotees singing, dancing, and carrying ceremonial tridents and spears. The sacred rivers become a symbol of renewal and spiritual rebirth, offering a chance to reconnect with the Goddess.
After this awe-inspiring festival, I will journey to Varanasi, a city that holds an unparalleled place in the spiritual heart of India. Varanasi is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city on Earth with its ancient ghats—stone steps leading down to the Ganges—are alive with activity from dawn to dusk. Every evening, the river comes alive with the Ganga Aarti, a mesmerizing ceremony of light and devotion. Hundreds of lamps float on the river’s surface, their flickering flames carrying prayers and intentions. The Ganga Aarti is a stunning reminder of life’s impermanence and the eternal nature of the soul.
Amidst all the light, Varanasi is also a place where pollution and poverty are as apparent as light and devotion. At the burning Ghats, pyres burn day and night as bits of corpses end up in the sacred Ganges. There are transgender folks--hijras--who hang out there, because it is good luck to have them at your funeral. A friend says, “ All very intense and complicated.” It is also said that those who pass away in Varanasi attain moksha, or liberation from the cycle of reincarnation, making it a city where the veil between life and the afterlife is astonishingly thin.
After the Kumbha Mela, I will travel to Khajuraho, where I plan to spend time meditating and integrating these transformative experiences at an ashram. This pilgrimage is not just about exploration but also about surrendering to the inner work that we all must face. Yes, even I have to do my own spiritual work too! ;) This period of introspection marks a significant death cycle for me—a necessary shedding of the old to make space for the new.
I am both humbled and exhilarated by the opportunity to immerse myself in these ancient traditions and to undergo a profound personal renewal. I look forward to returning rejuvenated, with a fresh perspective and renewed energy to serve our community with even greater clarity and purpose. Until we meet again, I hold you all in my heart. May the lessons I gather and the sacred experiences I encounter ripple outward to inspire and uplift us all.
Thank you to all my teachers who’ve imparted their wisdom and love all these years as I make my first trek to India.
