Study patterns in mass congregations: AnSI director

Nagpur: The Kumbha sees the presence and participation of sadhus belonging to various akharas and their interaction with the common people. It is an excellent example of how a temporal town emerges for some time and again gets dismantled, said Director of Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) Vinay Kumar Srivastava.
He was speaking at the one-day seminar on ‘Anthropology of pilgrimage with special reference to Kumbh Mela’, hosted by AnSI, Central Regional Centre, Nagpur.

Srivastava exhorted the behavioural scientists to study the behavioural patterns, religious, emotional and cultural bonding of the people and their beliefs attached to such mega congregations. The in-depth analysis of geographical locations, transmigration of the populace, massive logistics and administrative challenges faced in organizing the religious fairs, discourses, art melas, music and cultural festivals will bring out definitive solutions in better organization of such events that bring different communities together for religious and tourism purposes, he said.

Vice-chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur, Vijender Kumar was the chief guest for the occasion. He began by speaking about the significance of Kumbha.

“Pilgrimage is one of the most common phenomena of all religious traditions. In addition to religious reasons, Indian cities hosting the congregations have a wonderful intermingling of India’s rich spiritual, social and cultural traditions making them a perfect example of peaceful and gainful co-existence of different communities,” Kumar said. He also inaugurated a 10-day exhibition on Simhasta Mahakumbh Parva, Ujjain, at the Zonal Anthropological Museum, Seminary Hills.

The invited speakers for the seminars were professor in ancient history and archeology Devi Prasad Dubey, former director of Adivasi Lok kala Parishad in Bhopal Dr Kapil Tiwari, Dr Shweta Tiwari of Mahatma Gandhi Central University Motihari and Dr Karuna Shankar Pandey of AnSI’s North West Regional Centre.