360° – Geo Reportage: Kumbh Mela, the Largest Festival in the World

TV reportage

Production
G+J für Arte/MDR/Discovery Channel
2001

Directed by
Marc O. Eberle

Format
SD PAL 16:9

Length
28 Min.

Tech specs
Sony DVW 790 DigiBeta
Sony DSR 150P DVCam

Alok Sharma rides his horse through the tent city. From above the crowd he can look out over the heads of the millions of Hindus streaming toward the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. In the midst of the noise of voices, the crowds, and the clouds of dust, the 35-year-old is responsible for ensuring safety and directing 20,000 police officers from all parts of India.​

The stars over the confluence of the rivers are more favorably aligned than they have been for 144 years; for three days, the river water is considered especially holy. Pilgrims from all over the world have come to cleanse themselves of their sins by bathing in it. They all hope to come a step closer to Nirvana.​

Yet among millions of enthusiastic people, a festival can turn into a catastrophe at any moment. Over loudspeakers, the names of missing persons are called out around the clock.​

On the day of the new moon, the tension reaches its peak: it is the holiest day of the Kumbh Mela, and everyone presses toward the confluence, which is only slightly larger than a swimming pool. Alok Sharma decides who may bathe when and has to hold back the pushing crowds without angering them. If he makes a mistake, a mass panic can break out.​

“We focus above all on the human side of the festival,” says Alok Sharma. He calmly speaks with two rival groups and finds a compromise. In the evening, he himself takes a dip in the holy waters of the Ganges and prays that everything will go well in the days to come.​

360° – GEO Reportage visits the largest festival in the world and follows a man who is supposed to guarantee the safety of 70 million people.

Arte press release