#kumbh mela documentary

[minavideoproduction]

Capturing the Vibrance of India: The Artistry of an Indian Videographer

India is a land of diverse cultures, traditions, and a rich tapestry of colors and emotions. To capture the essence of this incredible nation, an Indian videographer plays a pivotal role. Their lens is a gateway to the mesmerizing sights, sounds, and stories that India has to offer. In this article, we'll explore the world of Indian videography, the role of an Indian videographer, and the captivating moments they encapsulate.

The Essence of Indian Videography

Indian videography is a multifaceted art form that thrives in a nation celebrated for its myriad of experiences. It encompasses a wide range of subjects, from cultural celebrations and landscapes to human interactions and day-to-day life. An Indian videographer is tasked with preserving the beauty, history, and diversity of India through their lens.

The Role of an Indian Videographer

Cultural Interpreter: India is a nation of cultural diversity, with each region having its unique traditions, festivals, and practices. An Indian videographer must be a cultural interpreter, understanding and respecting the intricacies of the culture they are capturing.

Storyteller: Videographers in India are storytellers at heart. They have a knack for weaving a narrative through the visuals they capture. Whether it's a documentary, travel vlog, or a wedding video, the videographer's goal is to convey a compelling story.

Visual Poet: India is a visual paradise. An Indian videographer is like a poet who uses their camera to capture the lyrical beauty of the landscapes, architecture, and people. They transform ordinary scenes into visual poetry.

Technical Wizard: To capture the vibrant scenes in India, videographers need to be technical wizards. They must have a good grasp of camera equipment, lighting, composition, and post-production techniques to enhance the final product.

The Captivating Moments of Indian Videography

Festivals: India is known for its exuberant festivals, and videographers play a crucial role in bringing these celebrations to life on screen. Whether it's the dazzling lights of Diwali, the colorful processions of Holi, or the spiritual fervor of Kumbh Mela, Indian videographers capture the magic of these events.

Landscapes: From the snowy peaks of the Himalayas to the pristine beaches of Goa and the vast deserts of Rajasthan, India's diverse landscapes are a visual treat. Videographers frame these landscapes in all their natural beauty, showcasing the country's geographical diversity.

Cuisine: Indian cuisine is a world of flavors and aromas. An Indian videographer may capture the street food vendors, the bustling markets, or the artistry of a chef's culinary skills, bringing the culinary delights of India to the screen.

Traditions: Videographers play a vital role in documenting traditional practices and rituals that are passed down through generations. Whether it's a wedding ceremony in a small village or a religious procession in a temple, videographers help preserve these traditions.

Choosing the Right Indian Videographer

Selecting the right videographer for capturing the essence of India is a critical decision. Here are some factors to consider:

Portfolio: Review the videographer's portfolio to get a sense of their style and creativity. Look for experience in the specific type of videography you need, whether it's travel videos, cultural documentaries, or wedding videography.

Budget: Determine your budget and find a videographer who can provide quality services within your financial constraints.

Reputation: Research the videographer's reputation by reading reviews and testimonials from previous clients. This will give you insight into the quality of their work and their professionalism.

Cultural Sensitivity: Given India's diverse culture, it's important that the videographer is culturally sensitive and knowledgeable about the specific region or community they are capturing.

Communication: Ensure that the videographer is easy to communicate with and receptive to your ideas and preferences.

For More Info :-

Wedding Videography Phoenix

Puerto Penasco Weddings

[toughgirlchallenges]

Kalyani Lodhia - Visionary Explorer - A Freelance Photographer, Biologist, and Wildlife Filmmaker Uncovering Nature's Marvels.

In her own words:

“Hi! I'm Kalyani, a freelance photographer, biologist and wildlife filmmaker, born and raised in the city of Leicester, what felt like miles away from the countryside and the outdoors. 

With no role-models or influences in my life to steer me to the natural world, it's a mystery to my whole family how I ended up loving the outdoors and everything in it, but somehow I did. 

My love for nature fuelled me to pursue a BSc at the Royal Veterinary College where I studied a whole range of aspects of animal biology; from anatomy and physiology to behaviour and evolution. My research into kangaroo biomechanics and limb bone scaling was part of a paper published in the Royal Society Open Science in 2018. I then completed my MSc at Imperial College London, where I fell in love with science communication and story telling.

I first picked up a camera at 19 years old when my parents sent me to live in an ashram for 6 months (of course, as a teenager, I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect initially) and that's how I accidentally got into, and got hooked on, photography. I am self-taught and now specialise in travel and wildlife photography.

I love exploring the world, often travelling solo, and learning about different cultures beyond stereotypes. Having Indian heritage, I have a deep understanding of the need to look beyond imperialist and colonialist generalisations and I am able to truly connect with people around the world.

As a biologist, there's something so incredibly special about seeing the most breathtaking animals in their natural habitat and experiencing the sheer magnitude and magic of the world around us.

I have been fortunate enough to have been to the Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering of people on Earth, the forests of Finland to photograph brown bears and the depths of the South African ocean, surrounded by thousands of hammerhead sharks.

My photography work has been featured by UNICEF and the BBC and I have had the opportunity to have worked for Parmarth Niketan Ashram and Light for the World. I have also had footage featured on BBC AutumnWatch and one of my photographs was selected for the long list of the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. I work full time as a freelancer on science and wildlife documentaries, where I am currently working as a researcher for the BBC's Natural History Unit on a landmark natural history series for National Geographic.”

***

New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out. 

You can support the mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media. Visit www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast Thank you.

***

Show notes

Who is Kalyani

Her love for the outdoors and nature

Wanting to be a vet when she was younger

Being sent to India by her parents

Accidentally getting into photography

What did her daily life look like in the Ashram

The moment when it all came together for her and started to enjoy taking photos

Going back home and doing a 3-year science degree

Still unsure what she wanted to do

Getting her Master's at Imperial Science Media Production

Working in a restaurant

How did she get her first job in The Great British Bake Off

Starting out as a runner and what she does

Taking every opportunity that is given to her

How does she cope with the stress

Her trips to other countries and what was it like for her

Her main job as a wildlife filmmaker

Working on a big series for National Geographic

Interesting place in Africa called Mauritania

Doing a shoot for three and a half weeks with a small crew

Why she's less tired than many others and her exhaustion-coping advice

Biggest challenges she's faced and had to deal with

Kalyani's trip to Iceland and why it was one of the best wildlife moments for her

Taking a trip to Finland for her birthday

Diving in the South African ocean with the hammerhead sharks

Climate change and figuring out shoot dates

The reality of nature

Where to find more information about Kalyani

Top tips and advice

  Social Media

Website: www.kalyanilodhia.com

Instagram: @kalyanilodhia 

Twitter: @kalyanilodhia

  Check out this episode!

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[blakegopnik]

THE DAILY PIC: Today’s image is “Shalu, Manisha, Rishika” (2020) by the French photographer Guillaume Zicarelli. It’s part of a project being featured at Perotin gallery in New York, in which Zicarelli presents photos and a short documentary about the transgendered women, known as “Kinnars,” who have recently been invited to participate as holy figures, “sadhus,” in the sacred Kumbh Mela festival in India. The documentary, titled “The Holy Third Gender: Kinnar Sadhus” and shot on the festival site, is especially potent and touching, because we get to hear the Kinnars themselves talk about what they’ve been through. Their formal acceptance into the festival clearly means things are looking up, but reading between the lines, it’s also clear that there is still a long way to go before they get fully accepted into society. In India, acceptance of the Kinnars has involved defining them as a new “Third Gender” rather than thinking of them as women who were born as men; granting them a status as “sadhus” also describes them as Other. 

Yet one of the Kinnar sadhus in Zicarelli’s video says that her fondest hope is to find a joe job to work at.

For a full survey of past Pics visit blakegopnik.com/archive.

[knockingnews-blog]

कुंभ के कचरे से इलाहाबाद में महामारी फैलने की नौबत, एनजीटी ने दिया ये आदेश

कुंभ के कचरे से इलाहाबाद में महामारी फैलने की नौबत, एनजीटी ने दिया ये आदेश #ngt #pollution #prayagrah

नई दिल्ली: राष्ट्रीय हरित न्यायाधिकरण (NGT) ने उत्तर प्रदेश की योगी सरकार को प्रयागराज में कुंभ मेले के बाद जमा कचरे को हटाने के लिए तुरंत क़दम उठाने को कहा है.  जो हालात हैं वो बेहद खतरनाक हैं और गर कूड़ा सही समय पर सही तरीके से ठिकाने नहीं लगा तो इलाहाबाद में महामारी फैल सकती है.

डाउन टू अर्थ वेबसाइट की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, NGT ने कहा है कि बसवार सॉलिड वेस्ट ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट में तकरीबन…

[buzz-london]

This hour long documentary highlights the spiritual, cultural and social importance of the kumbh Mela and highlights its great relevance for the modern world.

https://youtu.be/ReWiJ4pd6Kc

[travelerstories]

Juna Akhara, Haridwar. India Throwback to 2010, the second time I attended the Kumbh Mela and this was the big one. I spent three days mostly accompanied by these Naga babas. The one on the left, Makradwaj giri was an extremely kind and English speaking sadhu from Pali region in Rajasthan and he let me go around with him, stay at their tent and show me very interesting yoga techniques. There's a morale in my story, let me tell you. I should have listened to him more carefully and follow his advice. I came there to photograph the most important bath of the pilgrimage in the Ganges and I've been through a lot of struggle just even to pass the security gates and get to the Akhara that day (well it was 2am), but getting to the ghats was another thing. I went first to the tent and the babas were here. Makradwaj giri advised me to stay with him and not go to the main ghat for the most holy bath, it was too crazy, too crowded. But me being me, stubborn and so close to my objective, decided to go anyway.. I got stuck on a bridge over the Ganges during a stampede. I thought it was the end, if you haven't been in a stampede you can't imagine how your body and your lungs can be squeezed to the point where you can't breathe anymore. Several people died on that bridge, I read it later on the newspaper. I missed everything and got no shots of the royal bath, I was only lucky to get out of there alive and even surprised that my camera survived the stampede as well. Anyway, I just wanted to share my story behind a picture for once. A special one explaining why I came back from the Maha Kumbh Mela without the momentum shots you can see on the Internet. And why you should always listen to local people who know what's going on. #india #portrait #travel #photographer #lifelessons #uttarakhand #kumbhmela #marjilang #hindu #hinduism #baba #sadhu #documentary #indianphotography #indiapictures #travelblogger #travelindia #religion #portraitshoot #portrait_perfection #portrait_shots #portraitmood #makeportraits #rsa_portraits #profile_vision #pursuitofportraits #makeportraitsnotwar #makeportraitsmag #earth_portraits #majestic_people https://ift.tt/2wTpgBK

[ajithashokkumar]

Aghora: at the left hand side of God,

This book is not meant for all spiritual seekers, only those who have basic knowledge of Aghora should try to explore this book. A few years before, I came across one documentary which was shown on National Geographic Channel, it was about Kumbh Mela and Aghoris. There the anchor of that show tried to shoot one Aghori and his way of life. In that show, Aghori did one trick which amazed the westerner anchor and the viewers of that show. He tied 5 red bricks worth approx 20 kg on his testes and he walked like it was nothing. That Aghori was a skinny man with much less than 150 pounds of weight. After seeing that show I’m pretty sure these Aghori people are not ordinary men they are people with some mystic powers. I now know pretty much about the Aghori people and the things they are capable of. So after reading this book I felt not much wonder or surprise. If one reads this book with less knowledge of Aghori even if he/she is a spiritual person will think the content is a bunch of lies of some spiritual man. But actually, it is not, that's why I’m repeatedly saying do not read if you do not know who Aghori is.

Coming back about the book, Robert E Svoboda, the author, is more specific about the content in every chapter. The way of writing and his English is pretty amazing. We will get an in-depth knowledge of the beliefs and how Aghora Sadhanas different from normal Sadhanas which are practiced by the spiritual leaders that we know. As the book name suggests, ‘at the left hand of God’, that is the Aghori way. Normally spiritual leaders say about positive energy and peace. But Aghoris are just opposite to that, it is not the ‘Right hand’ way, it is the ‘Left hand’ path to spirituality. But the teachings are all the same. It is all about the ultimate god who owns this world, the creator, but the approach is different. From this book, we will get a clear understanding of who Aghoris are. They are not only spiritual gurus, they are god, the proper manifestation of Lord Shiva. This book is not a biography, it is an experience of a spiritual god, Vimalananda. He says, "Live Life to the Fullest", without any Fear. The word Aghora/Aghori itself is ‘non-terrifying’.

[documentarynews]

The largest gathering of humans on Earth occurs every 12 years in India

In January, an estimated 120 million people gathered at the confluence of three holy rivers in India: the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati. The occasion was the Kumbh Mela, a historic Hindu pilgrimage that occurs just once every 12 years.

The pilgrimage is widely considered to be the largest gathering of humans on Earth (and can even be seen from space).

“The scale is really something that can’t be captured—it has to be experienced,” filmmaker Jeremy Snell told The Atlantic.

He tried anyway, and the results are astounding. Earlier this year, Snell traveled to Prayagraj and Varanasi, in India, to film “Pilgrims,” a short documentary that depicts the Kumbh Mela in striking 16-mm film.

“My approach was to look for faces and scenes that exemplified an enactment of faith,” Snell said.

Watch “Pilgrims” at The Atlantic.

[unorthodox-photobox-blog]

Ganga Arti, Kumbh Mela, 2019. . . . . #indiapictures #india_ig #instaface #instagram #sodelhi #dfordelhi #_soidelhi #soi #kumbhmela #photocommune #wahhindia #un #portraitphotography #india #myspc #streetphotography #streetphotographyindia #spi_light #spicollective #capturestreets #faces_of_streets #people_infinity #indianphotos #theimaged #photographers_of_india #documentary #indianphotography #oph #mypixeldiary (at Allahabad, India) https://www.instagram.com/ashishvarshneyphotos/p/BuTjYIUA0_3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1cy7e81ezs1gf

[hppynews6]

Get Deep Inside the 'Kumbh Mela' with HistoryTV18’s New Show

Get Deep Inside the ‘Kumbh Mela’ with HistoryTV18’s New Show

[ad_1]

HistoryTV18 showcases the largest human gathering on earth in a spectacular new original show titled Kumbh: Among the Seekers.

The incredible festival is known to be the largest peaceful gathering on the planet. According to official estimates, a staggering 240 million people converged on Prayagraj, formerly the city of Allahabad, over two months. That’s more than three times the…

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[arko006-blog]

Get Deep Inside the 'Kumbh Mela' with HistoryTV18’s New Show

Get Deep Inside the ‘Kumbh Mela’ with HistoryTV18’s New Show

[ad_1]

HistoryTV18 showcases the largest human gathering on earth in a spectacular new original show titled Kumbh: Among the Seekers.

The incredible festival is known to be the largest peaceful gathering on the planet. According to official estimates, a staggering 240 million people converged on Prayagraj, formerly the city of Allahabad, over two months. That’s more than three times the…

[kroeder216-blog]

Graded Blog Post 3

These past couple weeks, our class has been focusing on Sacred Journeys and pilgrimages. I think that by discussing these different pilgrimages, I have become more interested in traveling to one of the different locations. It would be cool to visit all of the historical sites in Jerusalem because, as a Catholic, I would like to see the places where Jesus walked and where he died. I think if I were to do that, I would become a lot more knowledgeable about my faith. It would also be cool to travel to Lourdes because of the potential it offers. The waters of Lourdes have actually been proven to have healing powers and I think that the story behind it is very interesting. I have never been interesting in traveling outside the United States but I think that going on these different pilgrimages would be really cool. I cannot wait to hear about the next few because maybe I will want to go to some different places.

I chose to edit this post because I did not go into enough detail when addressing the prompt

For a couple weeks this semester, our class has been discussing sacred journeys and the idea of pilgrimage. Everyone in class had to present on a different pilgrimage that we were assigned from a documentary series on PBS, called Sacred Journeys. The presentations that were given were about Shikoku, Lourdes, the Hajj, Jerusalem, Kumbh Mela, and Osun-Osogbo. All of these presentations were very interesting and what made them all unique is that they were all directed towards different religions. Personally, after hearing all of these presentations, I would seriously consider going on a pilgrimage. Some of my favorite pilgrimages that I heard about were Lourdes and Jerusalem. As a Catholic, I feel like a visit to these places would be very beneficial to my faith. If I were to visit Jerusalem, I could literally walk the same streets that Jesus walked and visit other sites that are meaningful to my religion. But what I found really cool about Jerusalem is that it is a city that addresses the three world religions, which are Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The entire city of Jerusalem is full of sites that mean different things to all three religions. I could learn a lot about Islam and Judaism if I were to visit those sites that meant a lot to those religions. I would also visit Lourdes because it would be very cool to bathe in the spring that Mary created. I feel like the pool might not heal me physically, but it could heal me spiritually and help me become closer to God. All in all, I am really glad that I was able to learn about these different pilgrimages and I am glad that it opened my horizons to wanting to travel more.

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5 Crore People Took Bath On Mauni AmaVasya on a single day ( Ama means We and Vasya means to Live ogether so together it means Live Together )

#UNESCO #IntangibleCulturalHeritage #Kumbh #KumbhMela #Prayagraj

Mauni Amavasya: Sangam turns into biggest confluence of human faith as 5 cr devotees take dip

Feb 04, 2019 09:46 PM IST

llahabad officially known as Prayagraj, and also known as Illahabad and Prayag, is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Allahabad district

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Short film from #SDBWP #SDBgtfas coming in future

The city lies close to Triveni Sangam, “three-river confluence��, original name – Prayag, “place of sacrifice or offering” – which lies at the sangam(confluence) of the Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers, a propitious place to conduct sacrifices. It plays a central role in Hindu scriptures. Allahabad was originally called Kaushambi (now a separate district) by the Kuru rulers of Hastinapur, who developed it as their capital. Since then, the city has been a political, cultural and administrative centre of the Doab region.

In the early 17th century, Allahabad was a provincial capital in the Mughal Empire under the reign of Jahangir.

Akbarnama mentions that the Mughal emperor Akbarfounded a great city in Allahabad. `Abd al-Qadir Bada’uni and Nizamuddin Ahmad mention that Akbar laid the foundations of an imperial city there which was called Ilahabas or Ilahabad.[15][16] He was said to be impressed by its strategic location and built a fort there, later renaming it Ilahabas by 1584 which was changed to Allahabad by Shah Jahan.[vague][17]

In 1580, Akbar created the “Subah of Ilahabas” with Allahabad as its capital.[18] In mid-1600, Salim had made an abortive attempt to seize Agra’s treasury and came to Allahabad, seizing its treasury and setting himself up as a virtually independent ruler.He was, however, reconciled with Akbar and returned to Allahabad where he stayed before returning to the royal court in 1604.

In 1833 it became the seat of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces region before its capital was moved to Agra in 1835. Allahabad became the capital of the North-Western Provinces in 1858 and was the capital of India for a day.[22] The city was the capital of the United Provinces from 1902[22] to 1920[23] and remained at the forefront of national importance during the struggle for Indian independence.

Located in southern Uttar Pradesh, the city’s metropolitan area covers 70.5 km2 (27.22 sq miles).[25] Although the city and its surrounding area are governed by several municipalities, a large portion of Allahabad District is governed by the Allahabad City Council. The city is home to colleges, research institutions and 2 dozen central and state government offices. Allahabad has hosted cultural and sporting events, including Kumbh Mela and the Indira Marathon. Although the city’s economy was built on tourism, most of its income now derives from real estate and financial services. The Allahabad district is the second-most revenue providing district in Uttar Pradesh.

History Timeline Antiquity of Allahabad

The city was earlier known as Prayāga, a name still commonly used. Prayāga is first mentioned in the Agni Purana and in Manusmriti, as the place where Brahma (the Hindu creator of the universe) attended a ritual sacrifice.[28] Excavations have revealed Northern Black Polished Ware dating to 600–700 BCE.[28] The Puranas record that Yayati left Allahabad and conquered the region of Saptha Sindhu.[29] His five sons (Yadu, Druhyu, Puru, Anu and Turvashu) founded the main tribes of the Rigveda.[30] Lord Rama, the protagonist of the Ramayana, spent time at the Ashram of Sage Bharadwaj before travelling to nearby Chitrakoot.

When people first settled in what they called the Āryāvarta (or Madhyadesha), Allahabad (then Kaushambi) was an important part of their territory.[32] The Kurus, rulers of Hastinapur (near present-day Delhi), established the town of Kaushambi near Allahabad.[33] They shifted their capital to Kaushambi when Hastinapur was destroyed by floods.

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The Doab region, which includes Allahabad, was controlled by a succession of empires and dynasties.[34] The area became part of the Mauryaand Gupta Empires from the east and the Kushan Empire from the west before being governed by Kannauj during the 15th century.[32] The city was the site of Maratha incursions before India was colonised.

Early medieval period

Xuanzang described Allahabad as a large city between two branches of the river. He adds that there was a large Deva temple and before its hall was a great tree, near which human bones of people who used to commit suicide by jumping from it in the belief of going to heaven. Alexander Cunninghambelieves the tree described by him was the Akshayavat tree and probably still existed at the time of Al-Biruni who called it the “tree of Allahabad”, with the practice of jumping from it to commit suicide still continuing by his time. The rest of Allahabad’s history up to the Mughal Emperor Akbar isn’t much known.

In contrast to the account of Xuanzang, the Muslim historians place the tree at the confluence of the rivers. The historian Dr. D. B. Dubey states that it appears that between this period, the sandy plain was washed away by the Ganga, to an extent that the temple and tree seen by the Chinese traveller too was washed away, with the river later changing its course to the east and the confluence shifting to the place where Akbar laid the foundations of his fort.

As the majority of the houses would have been mud-walled, a flood could easily destroy them. Cunningham’s conclusion in his reports on the Archaeological Survey also supports the assumption, “I infer that during the long period that intervened between the time of Hiuen Tsang and that of Akbar, the two rivers gradually carried away the whole of the sandy plain. Long before this time, the old city had, no doubt, been deserted, for we know that the fort of Allahabad was founded on its site.”[37] Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti however, disagrees. He states that there is no way modern Allahabad is ancient, but the city site of Jhusi opposite the confluence was the ancient settlement of Prayag.[38]

Henry Miers Elliot believed that a town existed before Allahabad was founded. He adds that after Mahmud of Ghazni captured Asní near Fatehpur, he couldn’t have crossed into Bundelkhand without visiting Allahabad had there been a city worth plundering. He further adds that its capture should have been heard when Muhammad of Ghor captured Benares. however, Ghori’s historians never noticed it.Akbarnama mentions that the Mughal emperor Akbar founded a great city in Allahabad. `Abd al-Qadir Bada’uni and Nizamuddin Ahmad mention that Akbar laid the foundations of an Imperial City there which he called Ilahabas.[15]

Mughal rule

Allahabad Fort, built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1575 on the banks of the Yamuna River.

Tomb of Nithar Begum (daughter of Mughal Emperor Jahangir) at Khusro Bagh.

Abul Fazal states, “For a long time his (Akbar’s) desire was to found a great city in the town of Piyag (Allahabad) where the rivers Ganges and Jamuna join… On 13th November 1583 (1st Azar 991 H.) he (Akbar) reached the wished spot and laid the foundations of the city and planned four forts.” `Abd al-Qadir Bada’uni states that while encamped at Piyag which was commonly called Illahabas, the emperor laid the foundation of a great building called Ilahabad. Nizamuddin Ahmad gives two different dates for its foundation. He states that he laid the foundation of the city at a place of the confluence of Ganges and Jumna which was a very sacred site of Hindus. He also mentions about occurrences of 1584, “this time when the news of the disasters in Gujarat was reported, His Majesty deputed Mirza Khan… He (Akbar) founded a great city at Jusi Pyak at the place where the rivers Jamuna and Ganges united with each other and planned a fort around it. He named the city Ilahabas… and spent a period of four months.”[39]

Akbar was said to be impressed by its strategic location and built a fort there, later renaming it Ilahabas by 1584 which was changed to Allahabad by Shah Jahan.[17] In 1580, Akbar reorganized his empire into 12 divisions, per Ain-i-Akbari, “to each of which he gave the name Subah and distinguished them by the appelation of the tract of country or its capital city.” He combined the provinces of Jaunpur, Kara-Manikpur and territory of Bandhogarh into the “Subah of Ilahabas”. He had been worried about the administration of the area, particularly, after Ali Quli Khan Zaman’s rebellion. Allahabad was selected as its capital.[18]

After Prince Salim’s failed attempt to seize Agra’s treasury, he came to Allahabad and seized its treasury while setting himself up as a virtually independent ruler.[19] In May 1602, he had his name read in Friday prayers and his name minted on coins in Allahabad. After reconciliation with Akbar, Salim returned to Allahabad, where he stayed before returning in 1604.[20] After capturing Jaunpur in 1624, Shah Jahan ordered the siege of Allahabad. The siege was however, lifted after Parviz and Mahabat Khan came to assist the garrison.[40] During the Mughal war of succession, the commandant of the fort who had joined Shah Shuja made an agreement with Aurangzeb’s officers and surrendered it to Khan Dauran on 12 January 1659.[41]

Nawabs of Awadh

The fort was coveted by the East India Company for the same reasons Akbar built it. British troops were first stationed at Allahabad fort in 1765 as part of the Treaty of Allahabad signed by Lord Robert Clive, Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, and Awadh’s NawabShuja-ud-Daula.[42] The combined forces of Bengal’s Nawab Mir Qasim, Shuja and Shah Alam were defeated by the English at Buxar in October 1764 and at Kora in May 1765. Alam, who was abandoned by Shuja after the defeats, surrendered to the English and was lodged at the fort, as they captured Allahabad, Benares and Chunar in his name. The territories of Allahabad and Kora were given to the emperor after the treaty was signed in 1765. He spent six years there and after the takeover of Delhiby the Marathas, left for his capital in 1771.[43]

Upon realizing the Maratha intent of territorial encroachment, however, Shah Alam ordered his general Najaf Khan to drive them out. Tukoji Rao Holkar and Visaji Krushna Biniwale in return attacked Delhi and defeated his forces in 1772. The Marathas were granted an imperial sanad for Kora and Allahabad. They turned their attention to Oudh to gain these two territories. Shuja was however, unwilling to give them up and made appeals to the English and the Marathas did not fare well at the battle of Ramghat.[44] In August and September 1773, Warren Hastings met Shuja and concluded a treaty, under which Kora and Allahabad were ceded to the Nawab for a payment of 50 lakh rupees.[45]

Saadat Ali Khan II, after being made the Nawab by John Shore, entered into a treaty with the Company and gave the fort to the British in 1798.[46] Lord Wellesley after threatening to annex the entire Awadh, concluded a treaty with Saadat on abolishing the independent Awadhi army, imposing a larger subsidiary force and annexing Rohilkhand, Gorakhpurand the Doab in 1801.

British rule

Mahatma Gandhi at a January 1940 Congress Working Committee meeting with Vallabhbhai Patel and Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit at Anand Bhavan in Allahabad

Allahabad University established in 1887 is one of the oldest modern universities in the Indian subcontinent.

Acquired in 1801, Allahabad asides from its importance as a pilgrimage centre, was a stepping stone to the agrarian track upcountry and the Grand Trunk Road. It also potentially offered sizeable revenues to the Company. Initial revenue settlementsbegan in 1803.[48] Allahabad was a participant in the 1857 Indian Mutiny,[49] when Maulvi Liaquat Aliunfurled the banner of revolt.[50] During the rebellion, Allahabad, with a number of European troops,[51] was the scene of a massacre.[14]

After the mutiny, the British established a high court, a police headquarters and a public-service commission in Allahabad,[52] making the city an administrative centre.[53] They truncated the Delhi region of the state, merging it with Punjab and moving the capital of the North-Western Provinces to Allahabad (where it remained for 20 years).[23] In January 1858, Earl Canning departed Calcutta for Allahabad.[54] That year he read Queen Victoria’s proclamation, transferring control of India from the East India Company to the British Crown (beginning the British Raj), in Minto Park.[55][56] In 1877 the provinces of Agra and Awadh were merged to form the United Provinces,[57] with Allahabad its capital until 1920.[23]

The 1888 session of the Indian National Congresswas held in the city,[58] and by the turn of the 20th century, Allahabad was a revolutionary centre.[59]Nityanand Chatterji became a household name when he hurled a bomb at a European club.[60] In Alfred Park in 1931, Chandrashekhar Azad died when surrounded by British police.[61] The Nehru familyhomes, Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan, were centres of Indian National Congress activity.[62]During the years before independence, Allahabad was home to thousands of satyagrahis led by Purushottam Das Tandon, Bishambhar Nath Pande, Narayan Dutt Tiwari and others.[24] The first seeds of the Pakistani nation were sown in Allahabad.[63] On 29 December 1930, Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s presidential address to the All-India Muslim Leagueproposed a separate Muslim state for the Muslim-majority regions of India.[64]

Post-independence

Allahabad is known as the City of Prime Ministersbecause seven out of 15 prime ministers of India since independence have connections to Allahabad (Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Gulzarilal Nanda, Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Chandra Shekhar). All seven leaders were either born in Allahabad, were alumni of Allahabad University or were elected from an Allahabad constituency.

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Mauni Amavasya: Sangam turns into biggest confluence of human faith as 5 cr devotees take dip

Feb 04, 2019 09:46 PM IST

An estimated five crore devotees had their holy dip here in the Sangam Monday, the second and most auspicious day of ‘shahi snan’ on Mauni Amavasya, turning the Ganga, Yamuna and mystical Saraswati confluence into the biggest ever convergence of human faith and culture.

About 5 crore people had taken the holy dip in the Sangam by 5 pm Monday, estimated adminstration officials, suggesting it was a new record of human congregation anywhere.

In 2013, during the 12-yearly Kumbh congregation here, the turnout on Mauni Amavasya day was over 3 crore, the highest till then, they added.

The record-breaking spree of holy dips at the 40 bathing ‘ghats’ of the Sangam began soon as the clock struck the midnight intervening Sunday and Monday, heralding the auspicious hour.

With advent of the auspicious hour, lakhs of people waded into the Sangam, dazzling with over 40,000 LED lights and began taking dips, presenting a mesmerizing, wave-like picture of human heads submerging and emerging together from the water amid the chants of ‘Har Har Gangey’.

The holy bath continued beyond the day-break, when the sunlight dimmed the LED lights at Kumbh, and went on for the entire day.

Led by ascetics Hindus since time immemorial, the sacred bath on Mauni Amawasya at Kumbh, described as an “act of faith” aimed at “cleansing of one’s sins and seeking divine blessings” has been attracting pilgrims across the globe.

The busiest among all sacred bathing days in the 50-day long Kumbh Mela, Mauni Amavasya this time had greater significance as it fell on a Monday, a rather rare combination in many ways, explained some seers here.

The day began as early as 3 am for many devotees who were seen making a beeline for the Sangam on foot amid the restricted entry of vehicles to the Kumbh Nagari, the sprawling 32,000-hectare township set up on the river banks.

“Yeh Kumbh nahi aasan, bas itna samajh lijiye; thanda hai pani aur dubaki lagana hai (The Kumbh is not an easy task, the water is cold and you have to take the plunge),” said Ravish Vajpayee, an aspiring poet, who was just out after taking the dip at one of the ghats here.

Though ‘mauni’ means ‘silence’, the chants of ‘Har Har Ganga’ and ‘Ganga maiya ki Jai’ reverberated the Kumbh Mela venue and grew louder at the day break when Naga Sadhus, a martial order of ascetics, who roam naked with ash smeared on their bodies, proceeded to ghats in processions, dancing and singing with their gurus sitting atop decorated chariots.

Beside observing silence, many devotees perform ‘pind dan’ on this day for the souls of their ancestors to attain peace and to seek forgiveness and blessings from them.

Offering foods and clothes to the poor and needy is considered another important ritual of the day.

Seers of 13 akharas (seven Shaiva, three Vaishnava, two Udasina, and one Sikh) who have traditionally attended the Kumbh Mela were the first to take the holy bath.

The Kumbh administration had allocated 30 to 40 minutes each for the seers of each akhara to have their bath.

A massive security arrangement too has been put in place, with 40 police stations and as many fire stations set up to deal with any emergency situation.

Detailing the security arrangement at the venue, officials said an Integrated Command and Control Centre with 12 wireless grids has been set up at the Kumbh Mela venue for close coordination and prompt communication among security personnel.

The entire area has been put under the surveillance of 440 CCTV cameras, they added.

As the mega city briefly turned into possibly the most populous place on the face of earth Monday due to massive turnout, many entry points to the Kumbh Mela venue had to be closed.

While many complained about being stuck on the way to ghats, those who managed to enter the venue were seen boasting how they broke cordons to reach the river bank.

“Do they expect us to go back without taking a dip? One says ‘go there’, the other says ‘this side is blocked’. We were already too tired to put up with this nonsense. Of course, I had to break the cordon ultimately,” said 25-year-old Anshul Gupta from Lucknow.

The Kumbh, beside Mauni Amavasya, witnesses two ‘shahi snans’, the first of which took place on Makar Sankranti (January 15) and the third and the last being scheduled on Basant Panchmi (February 10).

About 12 crore people are expected to visit Kumbh till March 4, when the festival will come to an end.

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All you need to know , read and see about Prayagraj | Kumbh Mela | The biggest peaceful gathering in the World | India Sets a new World record on 4th Feb 2019 ( Mauni AmaVasya ) of 5 Crore People Attending Mass gathering biggest of its kind in the World | #UNESCO | #IntangibleCulturalHeritage | #Kumbh #KumbhMela | #Prayagraj at the sangam (confluence) of the Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati | biggest confluence of human faith 5 Crore People Took Bath On Mauni AmaVasya on a single day ( Ama means We and Vasya means to Live ogether so together it means Live Together )