By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik - Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist
Kumbh Mela reveals a side of Hinduism that is often not talked about. There are no temples, no gods, no devotion, no songs, no saints. It is primarily a ritual, dominated by boisterous masculine energy embodied in naked ascetics (digambara), covered with ash (bhabhut), with matted hair (jata), holding staffs (dandi), belonging to various gymnasiums (akhara), evoking the followers (gana) of the wild form of Shiva (Bhairava).






