MELA

An Interdisciplinary Research Proposal

 MELA
An Interdisciplinary Research Proposal
RESEARCH GOALS The Kumbh Mela is a case study that
demonstrates how certain systems can be used
for low-impact and economical urban design,
educating large populations on sustainable
living strategies, or disaster response. If we
consider that certain aspects of permanent
20th century design have failed, where can

today? Can this be a complimentary strategy

for urbanism? We contend that the questions
above, some clearly non architectural, do have
spatial effects, implications, and repercussions.
Our role as designers is to make this information
legible using the tools of our disciplines, and
eventually to make this available to a wider
audience interested in urban design for large
and evolving populations.

challenges converge at the Kumbh Mela. The

multifaceted nature of the event necessitates
an interdisciplinary study. We hope that by
fashioning multiple perspectives on the Mela,
and tailoring our research questions to each
one, we will better understand how the various
systems in the city work together, and how the
various disciplines involved can produce a
cohesive set of arguments about the city and
the festival.
 30.000.000

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ABSTRACT The Kumbh Mela is a Hindu religious festival

of the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers in the city of

millennium CE, the Kumbh Mela has become

the largest public gathering in the world; today
it draws tens of millions of pilgrims over the

bath in the sangam

and Yamnunai rivers. The Mela provides a forum

faith as pilgrims, religious teachers, followers of

monastic orders, and outside visitors converge

the festival will take place from January 14 -

The Mela is a potent forum for interdisciplinary

Public health, pilgrimage and religious studies,

design and planning, business, engineering,
governance, and technology converge at

and networks that has yet to be mapped in

a systematic way. It is hoped that a site visit

carried out by faculty and students in each of

necessary to produce a mapping of the

ephemeral city.

The Kumbh Mela could serve as a rich case

of temporality in this case a virtual pop-

up mega-city. This spatial model can be

pilgrimage: understanding the spatial, social,

and logistical elements of the Kumbh Mela
through interdisciplinary research will allow us
to propose the deployment of these systems in
a variety of places and situations, in particular
camps for refugees of war and natural disasters.
INTRODUCTION
The underlying structure of the Mela supports
the creation of a temporary city to house
its many pilgrims. This city is laid out on a
grid, constructed and deconstructed within
a matter of weeks; within the grid, multiple
aspects of contemporary urbanism come to
be realized, including spatial zoning, electricity
supply food and water distribution, physical
infrastructure construction, mass vaccinations,
public gathering spaces, and night time social
events. The ultimate goal of the pilgrims is to
bathe at the convergence of the rivers: even
this act is organized into a larger procession,

opportunities to bathe based on their social

status. When the festival is not in session, the
ground on which the city sits is used for different
types of agricultural production.

The visual documentation of the festival, in the

research project will ultimately be presented in
the form of maps and will distinguish between
two features:

settlement, including the hierarchy of residential

sectors, the attribution of spaces for public
amenities, the location and organization
of infrastructures (bridges, hospitals, food

of these spaces to the river. These are the

and can be documented through plan and

sectional drawings.

festival in a different way. These are the routes

that the pilgrims take between different parts of
the tent-city, the auspicious times for bathing,
the nighttime celebrations; events that are not

visually according to the spaces they occupy

albeit temporarily.
The goal of the visual documentation
component of this project is to understand the
processes of the temporary city at the Kumbh
Mela, its aplications to planning and design
and to conditions of temporal urbanization. One

an approach and imagination to aid in disaster

relief: how can the various systems established
at the Kumbh be used to support populations in
need of rapid infrastructural deployment?

Much of the popular literature on the Kumbh

Mela treats the festival primarily as a spectacle,
with, among other things, its huge crowds and
religious fervor. Special attention is given to
sadhus, Hindu ascetics, who become the central

This investigation of the Mela challenges this

approach and it is hoped that a systematic and
objective documentation of processes at the
festival will reveal a rich and sophisticated urban
typology, the various components of which can

The multidisciplinary research team sees this

Kumbh Mela as a massive human undertaking,
involving the government at all levels as well as
civil society and religious organizations. This
holds many lessons in collaborative work and
modes of governance.
KUMBH MELA
Like many pilgrimage events in India, the THEOLOGY HISTORY Those who have studied the Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela is anchored in Hindu mythology. in Allahabad see it as being more or less
It is widely believed that at four sacred sites continuous since the Gupta period (4th to 6th
Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain, and Nashik
amrit or the nectar of immortality, fell from a pot
(Kumbh) carried by the goddess Mohini as she by the Chinese Buddhist monk Hsuan Tsang,
whisked it away heavenwards, out of the grasp who had travelled to India in search of Buddhist
of the covetous demons who had tried to claim

to have lasted twelve divine days, which is the Since the mid-nineteenth century, the festival
equivalent of twelve human years; therefore,
the Mela is celebrated every twelve years, celebrated for its mass appeal, but some have
staggered at each of the four sites in this cycle.
between classes and competition between
religious orders, and whether it is even possible
to maintain crowd control, recalling the deadly

lives. The recent Maha Kumbh Mela, held in

2001 in Allahabad, attracted between 60 and 70
million people over the course of the weeks, and
has been noted as the largest public gathering
and collective act of faith anywhere on the
planet. On the most auspicious bathing days,
the crowd was large enough to be visible from a
space satellite.
Deeply embedded in Hindu belief is the idea MOTIVATIONS
of physical and spiritual cleansing. The Kumbh
Melas involve not only pilgrimage travel to the
four sites of divine presence, but also collective
bathing in the waters of the holy rivers. For the

culmination of a process that is meditative and

healing for the individual and motivating for the
collective in religious terms.

For many who participate in the melas, however,

these huge human gatherings are opportunities
for the practice of commerce, politics, public
service, or public health. Their motivations
for engagement in the mela are, in a sense,

the spread of diseases like cholera, dysentery,

organizers of the Mela to take the opportunity

to provide systematic medical care, including
vaccinations, to millions of pilgrims. In 2010, at
the Purna Kumbh Mela in Haridwar Pankaj Jain,

scene:
The land that is the physical site of the Kumbh TEMPORAL CYCLES
Mela functions on a set of temporal cycles.
During the festival, it is an urban space, zoned
according to the rules of the gridded; during
the interim years, it sustains agricultural life.
The different melas themselves are categorized
according to when they occur in a 144-year
cycle, and the different planetary alignments
that occur during this period.

There are four types of Melas :

years, last took place in 2001 in Allahabad

years at Allahabad

at Allahabad and Haridwar only

four sites

The diagram on page 16 shows how these

events alternate and at times overlap. The

with information on the agricultural cycles of

the four cities; this will give a true sense of the
temporal changes in each 12-year series. The
cycle, when visualized in such a way, shows the
cosmological nature of the event.
 At the center of the diagram, four points mark the
four cities of the Kumbh Mela, shown alongside
T 2012 their respective water bodies. (Lets check all
AUGNUSTSRUCTION captions)

27

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The inner circle charts out the Kumbh Mela

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BATHING DAYS

PAUSH POORNIMA
festivals at all four cities from 2001 to 2012: the

01

02
CO

Maha Kumbh is in blue, the Purna Kumbh in red,

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the Ardh Kumbh in yellow, and the Kumbh in

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light blue. The middle circle does the same for

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nature of the festival becomes apparent.

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bathing days between January 27 and February

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GEOGRAPHY The four Mela cities are urban areas that are
structured by their water bodies. Allahabad is

the Ganga and Yamuna, whereas Haridwar,

Nashik, and Ujjain have linear organizations,
usually along one side of their respective rivers.
In a few instances the cities spill over to the
opposite bank, using foot and car bridges to
join the two sides. The river front and bathing
access is central to the Mela structure in these
cities. The transport infrastructure of roads,
trains, and highways is critical to the smooth
functioning of the Mela, and these great
pilgrimage fairs provide the occasion for a
concerted effort to improve the transportation
infrastructure.

It is also true that many pilgrims still come on

foot, and in the weeks of the Mela pilgrims can
be seen walking along these roads toward the
city hosting the festival that year.

The urban layout of each city also must include

the space for the large temporary encampments
that are essential for the Mela. The city,
therefore, interacts with an unpopulated terrain
nearby, used alternately for agriculture and as
a site for the temporary city during the Mela.
This is fertile and useful land, able to sustain
the density and dynamism of the temporary city
as well as the long stretches of relatively quiet
agriculture landscapes in between.

LAND USE In the Kumbh Mela site a grid structure is visible

throughout the seasons. During the festival
it determines basic paths of movement and
zones in the temporary city; at other times, it
structures the farmland so that various crops
may grow at different times of the year. The

sustainable method of organizing land use on a

The diagrams to the right show the relationship
of the built city to their respective water bodies
and to the actual sites of the Kumbh Melas. The
city of Allahabad sits nestled between the two
branches of the rivers, and the Kumbh Mela
site lies directly over the point where the rivers
join. This point is known as the sangam, and is
considered one of the holiest locations in India.
PILGRIMS Pilgrims who choose to attend the Kumbh
Mela are overwhelmingly elderly and male, the
most iconic of whom are the sadhus. Elderly

within these gender divisions are social or class

proposed research is to determine whether

these differences have spatial resonances: that
is, if the occupation of the tents in the city and
the eventual bathing process follows a pattern
of social or gender divisions as well.

More devout Hindus choose to walk the distance

of the pilgrimage; thus, months before the start
of the festival, pilgrims can be seen walking
in long succession along the Indias major
highways dressed in the characteristic orange
clothing

In addition to individuals and families, major

religious institutions and spiritual leaders attend

in this respect is how space is allocated among

these different groups, and if a social hierarchy
emerges from these sometimes ambigous
divisions.
SPATIAL FORMULATIONS Tents for sleeping, eating, religious gatherings,
AND INFRASTRUCTURES entertainment, and socializing make up the
OF THE CITY basic spatial character of the Kumbh Mela
city. They are arranged in lines within the basic

for walking on foot. The city is zoned from one

public spaces are distinct, interspersed with

hospitals, eating areas, public toilets, bridges,
and so forth.

Among those less obvious (and less tactile)

spatial systems are the electricity grid, food
distribution, internet and cell phone capabilities,

distributions like shoes and clothing, among

others.
 NATIONAL AND Along with the three other host cities, Allahabad
ENVIRONMENTAL -
CONTEXT grimage sites. These are spread from the north-
ern tip of the country, in the Himalayan foothills,
down to the southernmost point bodering the
Indian Deccan. These cities, occupied to differ-
ent degrees depending on the holiday and time
of year, create a sub-landscape within India, a
pattern of spatial occupation intricately related
to cycles of lunar months and seasons. It is

20th century and certainly through the process

of independence, national identity has played a

individual. The nation was and to some degree

still is the frame of reference (as opposed to
the city or the state) for the individual citizen.

Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik are

located within a national fabric of spiritual
destinations intimately linked to Indias hydro-
logical systems. Occupation of land and water
as a result of religious rituals makes a spatio-
environmental impact at a national scale.
SITE DOCUMENTATION
ALLAHABAD 2013

Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh (UP). Activity related

to the Kumbh Mela will occur throughout January
and the commencement of the sacred festival
season will be January 14. Allahabad sits on
the western edge of the Allahabad district in
southern UP, at the convergence of the Ganga
and Yamuna Rivers. It is the holiest of the four
Kumbh Mela sites, because it is believed that a
third invisible river, the mythical Saraswati, also
joins the two sacred rivers here.

a special place in the Hindu imagination.

Allahabad thus draws the largest gatherings of
all the Melas, and with each passing festival,
reinforces its image as the center of Hindu
spirituality.

The area of Allahabad used for the Kumbh is

highlighted here in yellow. It is adjacent to the
main city, occupying the ground where the
rivers converge.

While we have some understanding currently of

the occupation of land during the festival, we
also want to investigate the occupation of water.
It is likely that the majority of visitors are unable
to swim, and we are interested in the possible
infrastructures in place to prevent injuries or
fatalities during the bathing process.

Furthermore, the presence of millions of people

bathing in a brief period, raises the question
of sanitation: for diseases like cholera and
dysentery - are there preventative measures in
place?
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
the sacred day of Makar Sankranti. By this time
the temporary city will be virtually complete and
ready for the Mela which begins on January 27

being Mauni Amavasya Snan on February 10.

On each of these days, and the ones in between,

pilgrims are scheduled to bathe at particular

In the past, the ascetics have been allowed

consternation among others, as well as an

this led to a fatal stampede in Allahabad.

PERSPECTIVES
INTERDISCIPLINARY The project focuses its energies on visualizing
APPROACH and spatializing information that is gathered in
looking at the various simultaneous processes
occurring at the festival. Cartography, our
chosen method of analysis, is a tool that can
accommodate many types of data: material

temporal, and so on. The micro- and macro-

scale processes that occur at the Kumbh can
be placed into a cartographic framework that
both analyzes the information and suggests its
potential uses in other sites in the future.

The research team intends to visit the Kumbh

These days would be spent recording the

different layers of activity and interviewing as
many attendees and organizers as possible.
Scholars of the different disciplines will work
together to collect both spatial and non-spatial
information, to be assimilated into a large
PUBLIC HEALTH Where are pop-up hospitals located in the city?
| How are vaccinations and other available
medications distributed to Mela visitors? | Who
participates in vaccination initiatives, and at
| How
are such large numbers of people organized
in relatively peaceful and secure ways? | What
happens when a disturbance breaks out? |
What pathways open up to let a sick person
move out of the crowd and seek medical
assistance? | Do people seem to sense when
the crowds are getting dangerously dense? |
What is the layout for appropriate sources of
water and sanitation and waste management?
| How are proper procedures for hand-washing,
bathing, drinking, and cooking managed
at the family or group level? | What are the
placements, numbers, and personnel relating
to health clinics of all kinds? | How is the
vaccination process organized, announced,
and conducted? | What organizational and

respond to large crowd emergencies (weather

emergencies, stampedes or outbreaks of group
violence, use of weapons)? | When and how
food and medicine are distributed?
RELIGIOUS STUDIES How do groups of pilgrims from different
economic and social background relate to one
another spatially? |
the grid that separates types of pilgrims, and
genders, from each other? | How does the Mela
negotiate the tensions between self-identity
and national and religious identity? | Who are
the major religious players (both individuals
and institutions) at the festival, and what is their
impact on the larger population? | What are the
differences in their relationships to pilgrims,
tourists, the press, and the Melas governing
organizations? | What are the edges of sacred
space? | Where do pilgrims come from and how
do they travel? | Where and how are religious
institutions allocated space?
DESIGN AND PLANNING How can we visually and spatially document
temporary urbanism? | What is the relationship
between the physical structure of the temporary
city and the temporal events that occur there?
| How is land allocated? | How does temporal
or temporary urbanism challenge large and
permanent, but often brittle, urban form? | How
can the spatial systems that emerge from this
study inform natural and political emergency
situations (i.e., refugee camps)? | What are the
physical boundaries of the festival, and do they
change from festival to festival? | How is the city
zoned between public and private (residential)
spaces? | How are the collective systemstent
construction, electricity, water, sewage man-
agement, internet, cell phone towers, public
restrooms, food distribution, medical care, and
crowd control, to name a fewspatially con-
structed and deconstructed? | What are the
timetables and route maps of public transport in

change for the festival? | What is the land use

data over the course of multiple years for the
site? | Can we relate the Kumbh to other simi-
lar models (temporary army camps and music
festivals), or does it have a completely unique
structure? | Is the transition between the festi-
val use of land and the agricultural use of land
conscious and well embedded in the cultivators
imagination or is it a spontaneous action?
BUSINESS What is the business model of the Kumbh Mela?
| | What
role can private organizations (corporations and
NGOs) play in in the development process in
India, especially in the face of a dysfunctional
state? | Does the Kumbh Mela provide a clear
framework for these relationships to unfold
over the course of a few weeks, or is it a
different model? | What is the balance between
government involvement and the private sector
in organizing, deploying, and managing the
festival? | |
How do partnerships between public sector
and private actors emerge in short order? | Are
basic necessities like water supply subsidized
by the state or federal government? | Is there
a charge for the use of public amenities, like
restrooms? | Is there an advertising or branding
BUSINESS
presence for the companies that are there (like
internet vendors)? | How large is the presence
of informal methods of business, including
hawking and vending of consumables? | What
is their governance structure? | Desired Cell
Phone Information: Time of call; GPS or cell
tower location from which call is made (longitude
and latitude); duration of call; the city, province,
or country the phone is registered to, and the
original phone coverage provider; the area
code or country code for the phone number
from which the call is being made; the area
code or country code for the phone number
receiving the call
ENGINEERING How can we map infrastructure engineering,

| What kinds of physical systems are in place

for these? | How is physical infrastructure
planned and deployed at the festival? | What
are the changes in air quality and air pollution
during the festival? | How might data like
this be visualized with the tools available to
engineering and design? | Does the religious
nature of the Kumbh Mela completely determine
how effectively people work together to deploy
infrastructure? | Are the systems set up here
only capable of lasting for the duration of the
Mela, or can they be more permanent? | How
does the pontoon bridge system, which carries
millions of people in and out of the festival site in
a short span of time, interact with both land and
water? | How is it physically located in the river?
| What are the overall environmental impacts
of temporary infrastructures at the festival? |
How to minimize the quantity of waste plastic
bottles? | How to design for reuse then the
installation, dismantling and repurposing of all
| Who
makes the initial investment in water and waste
water infra and how is the money recaptured? |

enough rain or a cholera outbreak?

GOVERNANCE What is the structure of authority (organizational
and legal) and how are levels of authority
designated? | What is the interface with the
Army? | Do they have an authoritative presence
outside of the actual construction of the city? |
How is law enforcement carried out? | Are there
designated police? |
How are different zones in the citytourism,
religious institutions, press, different castes of
pilgrimsdesignated? | Who decides where
different visitors live, eat, and pray? | What is the
|
Is the festival comprehensive in this sense or
is it a collection of micro-economies? | Do city
planners or event planners have a presence at
the festival?

GOVERNANCE
TECHNOLOGY What is the history of technology at the festival?
| At what point were different technological
systems (grid, power lines, toilets, internet, etc.)
introduced and why? | Which technologies have
the festival chosen to use and why? | Is there
anything conspicuously missing? | What is the
balance between temporary and permanent
technologies? | Is everything put in place just

into which the festival can plug? | Where are

internet stands at the festival, who runs them,
and how effective is the access? | How are
cell phones charged? | Can the technologies
and methods used at the festival give us
clues about how temporary technologies
can be used in cities outside the religious
| Is there a way to incorporate the light
technological footprint developed at the festival
into already-established, and more rigid, urban
environments? | What is the reason for the grid?
| Can we construct a timeline of technology for
the festival, perhaps back to the 19th century? |
Which systems are consistent from one festival
| Can we chart
the evolution or stagnancy of these systems
over time? | Does he festival function like an
|
What are these potential stresses and how to
they affect the city? | What are the variations in
the Mela over time (how has the city structure
changed)?
PERSONNEL
 CREDITS

IMAGE CREDITS
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