Opinions

Mrs. Savita Jha Khan’s Rant About Mahakumbh On Indian Express Shows They’re Terrified About Too Many Hindus Coming Together

February 22, 2025
Vijender Sharma

I came across an ‘opinion’ piece by Dr Savita Jha Khan on the apparently disturbing trend of Hindus assembling in large numbers. What is put across as a concern looks more like fear when one reads the piece.

At the outset, Mrs Khan wonders whether going to Kumbh means Hindus have started following a codified, performative & mandatory form of Hinduism. This assumption is shocking because Hinduism is not a bunch of random beliefs. It has its codes, its rituals & mandates.

Mrs Khan thinks that Hindus are increasingly adopting Abrahamic characters like centralisation, rigidity, mass mobilisation, etc. She doesn’t give any proof of either centralisation or rigidity of Hindus but uses these words more than once in her opinion.

Mass mobilisation has always been a part of Hinduism. Foreign travellers & Indian historians have mentioned mass events. Bathing rituals were common even in the SSC times. The Great Bath is a proof of that.

The Kumbh Mela is not the ultimate destination even today. It is voluntary. Mrs Khan believes that Kumbh was a journey for oldies nearing their end. This is not true. Yes a lot of elderlies would go on pilgrimage, but does she know why it was so?

It was mostly because yatra was difficult. People would walk or travel in carts for weeks & sleep under trees or in sarais. They were exposed to adverse weather, wild animals, snake bites, dacoits, etc. Making such a hard journey, to & fro was extremely dangerous.

Here, Mrs Khan makes so many assumptions, as if she personally knows everyone going to Kumbh. Of course participation has increased. Because now it is not dangerous to go on a yatra. People do not wait for their children to get married before going on a yatra anymore.

Then out of no where Mrs Khan brings in Kanwar Yatra. Probably because she cannot bring in the Tazia processions or Shab-e-barat anarchy.

Fear of Mrs Khan is evident here. She thinks only Abrahamic faiths have the concept of processions & gatherings. It is sad that despite being a student & a teacher of history she has so little knowledge of Indic faiths.

Faxian in his travel records mentions grand processions at least twice. Once in Hotan & once in Pataliputra. The tradition of grand procession is definitely not a ‘new’ thing as she wants us to believe. Again more Hindus are going on pilgrimage because it is easy to do so now.

Here Mrs Khan has completely lost it. She is scared that Hindus are now participating in ever larger numbers in their festivals, yatras & congregations. She thinks Hindus are better off praying at home than assembling in massive numbers.

Mrs Khan thinks that people bathing at Kumbh is some how a ‘challenge to Hinduism’s foundational essence’. This is typical of Marxist historians who are experts in twisting facts. Rivers & river bathing has been mentioned in Rigveda & Puranas.

The Rigveda has an entire hymn (Nadistuti Sukta RV 10:75) dedicated to praises of rivers. Bhagirath did tapa to bring Ganga down to earth so his ancestors could attain moksha. Rivers & river bathing has always been integral to Hinduism.

Vedas & Puranas are the very foundation of Hinduism & they exalt bathing in rivers. There is a reason Kumbh happens every 12 years & not on a convenient weekend. There is a long history of mass gatherings, processions & yatras, which Mrs Khan conveniently forgot.

Mrs Khan pretends to ‘worry’ about the changes in Hinduism but in fact she is just wants Hindus to not show any sign of cohesiveness. She would rather have them divided on caste & language than come together for peaceful spiritual gatherings.

Vijender Sharma is a history enthusiast and author. He has written two books, Essays on Indic History & The Cusp Years, on the lesser known aspects of Indian history.

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