By Dr Prashant Khattri
The Maha Kumbh 2025 is nearing an end. If one has to identify a single issue for which this Kumbh will be remembered then it will be the VIP culture.
From the very inception of the Mela, ministers, government officials and celebrities were visiting the Mela site to take the holy dip.
VIP culture can be defined as a culture of exclusivity and accessibility at the cost of the people on the margins.
After the January 29 stampede on the occasion of Mauni Amawasya, people started questioning the VIP culture at pilgrimage sites. Many blamed the VIP culture for the stampede as the administration was busy working the protocols of officers and ministers at the cost of giving attention towards managing the crowd.
However, this did not stop the VIPs from visiting the Mela along with their families and taking the holy dip at the Sangam (the confluence of rivers).
If one visits the Mela site then one can easily spot a VIP vehicle moving along with a pilot jeep right in the middle of a crowded street.
For a few minutes, everyone just looks at these vehicles and the people sitting inside them, barricades are opened for the vehicles to pass and then they are again closed.
One may ask what is the reason behind the continuous flow of these VIPs and their families in the Mela despite being criticized for the problems that it creates for the public.
During a conversation with a pilgrim, while conducting fieldwork in the Mela area, I asked why people carry holy water with them back home.
Sundar (name changed) replied that “this is considered as his purushartha as it is his Dharma to help his family members get access to the fruits of touching and bathing with the holy water.
Those who could not join him at the pilgrimage site due to old age or disability can at least touch the holy water and get punya.”
Hindu scriptures define that there are four purusharthas or goals of life that a person has to achieve in life- Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha.
Out of these Dharma has been defined as the most important goal. Dharma is associated with the moral values that a person holds.
It is a concept that includes one’s duties toward oneself and his/her family members, relatives, and friends.
Purushartha in popular usage is associated with achievements in life. In the context of our goals mentioned above, it is the Artha (material possession/money) that defines a person’s purushartha as it can be measured in material terms objectively.
Political power and economic capital are two important aspects that define Artha and consequently purushartha.
In this context, VIP culture in Mela can be seen at two levels- on the one hand, it is a display of one’s purushartha in the context of social and class hierarchies, and on the other hand it is associated with Dharma a person has towards his/her family.
Sudhir Kakkar, a noted psychoanalyst of India once wrote that India is not a country for anonymous.
You need to be somebody to live with dignity in India. We are always in the race to set new world records.
This is so true in the context of the ongoing Maha Kumbh where every day we are presented with new records and statistics about different aspects of the Mela.
The need to be noticed is a universal phenomenon but what makes it unique in the Indian context is the social sanction it gets within a hierarchical caste structure. This partially explains the VIP culture at Maha Kumbh.
The other part of the story can be explained through the notion of Dharma. One’s a person gains position and power in the social hierarchy, it becomes his/her Dharma to use it for the benefit of his/her family.
A person gathers punya (merit/virtuous) through sewa (service). Serving one’s family by making arrangements for the pilgrimage is considered a duty and a moral act.
This however raises an important question in the context of public servants using their influence for pilgrimage.
Is Dharma towards one’s family ranked higher than Dharma toward one’s professional duty and the public at large?
Achieving public order through public service (jan seva) should be the administrative Dharma.
(Dr Prashant Khatri, Assistant Professor, Dept Of Anthropology, University of Allahabad)
