Kumbha Mela -- The Festival of Immortality

Kumbha Mela

In this book the author, Lokanantah Swami, combines extensive information about the Kumbha-Mela festival with many quotations from Srila Prabhupada's books and letters referring to the Kumbha-mela. He says:

"Besides providing some general information about the Kumba-mela, its main purpose is to highlight the significance of this amazing festival, which Srila Prabhupada missed no opportunity to attend. There were two major Kumba-mela festivals during Prabhupada's time with his disciples (1971 and 1977), and Prabhupada personally made a point to attend each one, despite of his ill-health in 1971. Simply by attending these two times Prabhupada made a statement about how he regarded the Kumba-mela to b e a valuable preaching oportunity. It is also no coincidence that the Lord Himself, Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu also visited the Magha-mela and empowered Rupa Goswami with His preaching potency."

I offer this humble effort at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, who spent many years in Allahabad and attended many Kumbha-mela festivals. His participation and his example has inspired his followeres to atctend the Kumbha-mela festivals to preach pure devotional service.

"We have not come for liberation. We have come to preach. Being engaged in Krishna's unalloyed devotional service, we are already liberated. We are not interested in liberation. We have come to preach devotional service." Srila Prabhupada at the 1971 Kumbha-mela.