The Science Behind Kumbh: Astrology and Collective Consciousness

Every 12 years, India celebrates a festival called Kumbh where people from all the across the country and even world assemble at this festival. For centuries, the festival has been celebrated in rotation in one of the four cities of India namely Haridwar (next to river Ganga), Prayagraj (next to Ganga and Yamuna), Nasik (Next to Godavari) and Ujjain (next to river Shipra).

Here is the science/logic to this festival….

*** To begin with Kumbh refers to the pitcher that came out of Samudra Manthan (process of churning of ocean by Devas and Asuras) which was brimming with knowledge and had various articles including nectar. Kumbh also refers to the eleventh zodiac in Vedic astrology (called as Aquarius in Western Astrology) and its energy (when Sun enters Aquarius i.e. in winters in Northern hemisphere) slows us down due to extreme winters making one introspective/philosophical. That is why this zodiac is owned by Saturn- a very slow planet that takes 30 years to complete one revolution around Sun (earth from geocentric model viewpoint). Thus, the zodiac of Aquarius and Saturn slow down the conscience and help to segregate good from bad by churning the ocean of information that one has gained in one’s life (including past lives) thereby bringing out nectar and other useful articles in one’s life.

Now, Jupiter takes 12 years to complete one round of the solar system and thus earth too (from geocentric perspective). Since Jupiter represents the expanded consciousness (due to its gravity that expands our rasa/fluids in our body too), its one circle covering all the 12 zodiacs represents expanded consciousness of humans in all the aspects of life. That is why this festival is held after every 12 years at one place where people from the country and parts of world assemble to disseminate and learn recently acquired knowledge thereby catapulting the knowledge and thus the collective conscience of the country/world. The reason that they are held next to major rivers is for a simple reason- to handle daily logistics (cooking, bathing, drinking etc) of a huge crowd apart from giving serene surroundings and moderate climate conducive for gaining/imparting knowledge.

*** Kumbh in different cities is celebrated basis different positions of Jupiter, Sun and Moon in specific zodiacs. For example, in Haridwar, it is celebrated when Jupiter enters Kumbh (Aquarius zodiac) and Sun is in Aries signifying knowledge entering into introspective state of mind (Jupiter in Aquarius) when strength of nerve impulses is strong and focused (Sun in Aries). In Prayagraj, it is when Jupiter is in Aries or Taurus and Sun in Capricorn. The aim remains to keep it at the same place after 12 years. And then there are half Kumbh (ardh kumbh) that are held after six years and Magh kumbh which is held every year.

*** It is said that one must visit Kumbh as and when it is held to get Moksha and take a dip in holy Ganga. Here is the deep-seated meaning to it… First of all, please remember that it is an absolute Myth that taking a physical dip in the river Ganga can rid one of one’s sins. Ganga here refers to “Gyan ki Ganga” – the river of knowledge that flows in Kumbh. This is because only knowledge and its true implementation can liberate one’s soul from the lower (the less evolved) realms. Of course, Ganga’s water is extremely pure and helps to get rid of diseases. It also instills sattvic thoughts due to its purity (just as going to mountains does), however this sattvic moment can only show the path towards higher realms but not wash away the wrongdoings. All in all, there are no quick fix solutions for clearing one’s sins. One has to go through the fruits of one’s karma to undo the wrongs done.

*** The current age (especially 2000 AD onwards) is astrologically referred as the Age of Aquarius/kumbh primarily because of global interconnectivity due to internet and associated mediums (social media) that are facilitating exponential spread of knowledge and further build up due to continuous creation of more dots and their interconnectivity. In other words, the world in today’s age is literally living through the festival of Kumbh every passing moment. This is not to demean the importance of kumbh festival held in these cities as festival’s continuity ensures their relevance in future when natural and/or man made catastrophes will break this global interconnectivity for a long time.