Kumbh

Directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni

“A dream came to me from who knows where having slept as two I awake as one / the other wasn’t there”. Two young men on a blind date start their journey outside the city. Unknowingly they become a part of maze of a pilgrimage of sadhus. They look around, they observe, they smile, they doubt, they whisper. They are lost, they are found. Two young men stroll curiously around the Kumbh Mela, a huge religious festival involving millions of Hindus. They are wearing modern clothing, which makes them stand out among the pilgrims, most of whom are in traditional dress. Kumbh Mela, which takes place every three years at one of the four major Hindu sites (Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain and Nasik), is seen as the biggest pilgrimage in the world, bringing the many faces of Hinduism together. There are naked sadhus smeared in ash, rich gurus collecting donations, musicians and other performers, and simple pilgrims washing away their sins by ritual bathing in the river.