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8 things you didn’t know about the Big Pot Festival
The world’s largest religious gathering, the Hindu Pot Festival with more than 100 million people, “wildness”, “full frontal nudity”, and Indian-style “Spring Festival” are all eye-catching signs of this religious event.
The Dahu Festival originated from Indian myths and legends. According to legend, Hindu gods and demons competed for a divine pot containing nectar. The nectar was accidentally knocked over, and the nectar fell to Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujang and Na in India. Tin four places.
Since then, the four cities have celebrated the Dahu Festival every three years, which means that each place can only hold it every 12 years.
Among the above-mentioned four cities, because Allahabad is located at the confluence of the three holy rivers, the Ganges, Yamuna and the invisible River of God, the special geographical location makes Allahabad’s Big Pot Festival particularly eye-catching, and this year’s Big Pot Festival The festival is held in Allahabad.
When the camera is full of wild and devout images, do you know the secret behind the Dahu Festival?
What kind of paint is the ascetic painted on? Do the legendary cannibals really exist? Can the gay community attend religious events? Are frontal nudity open-ended meetings only for men?
1. The ashes painted on the body of the ascetic
The ascetic monks on the Dahu Festival, what materials are used to paint the gray paint all over their bodies?
There are three answers: marijuana ashes, charcoal ashes and human ashes.
Cannabis ash, as the name suggests, is the smoke and dust exhaled by ascetic monks smoking marijuana cigarettes, but not all ascetic monks smear this, more people smear charcoal ash, an easy-to-use material.
The ashes of the dead sound incredible, but they are one of the materials they collect and apply.
The easiest place to collect ashes is from the corpse burning temple, where the ascetic smeared the body with the ashes of the dead beside the temple and insisted not to take a bath.
Maintaining this physical condition is part of their practice.
When it comes to the Big Pot Festival, they will be covered with ashes before they enter the water, and when they emerge from the water again, they will be washed all over their bodies, showing that they have washed away their “sin”.
But ascetic monks often reapply a layer of ashes after bathing and enter the river again for baptism, which means washing away “sin” for the world
2. Professional ascetic monks
Many ascetic monks take their image very seriously.
Their outfits, hairstyles, and unique marks painted with soot are not only a symbol of their status, but also bring them a lot of income.
For believers in the country, they will smear the ashes on the forehead of the believer after charging about 100 rupees for the consecration fee, which is said to bring good luck.
For foreign tourists, the strange costumes of the ascetic monks are often the most attractive to their shots. Once the travelers raise their cameras and mobile phones to take pictures, these ascetic monks will take the opportunity to ask the photographer for money.
Therefore, grooming oneself has become an essential step in the practice of many ascetics, and they have to carefully comb their dresses every morning to try to make themselves appear more professional.
3. The rumor of “raw cannibalism”
There are many sects of ascetic monks. Rumors about raw cannibalism come from a tantric sect called Aghori, which split from Hinduism in the 14th century, but many mainstream Hindus do not accept this sect as true Hinduism.
The ascetic monks of the Aghori sect often live near the corpse-burning temple, smearing their bodies with cremated ashes in the temple, and turning human corpses into skull bowls or carving and inlaying them into jewelry.
It is this kind of dressing that has led to rumors that they can eat human flesh, but its authenticity is doubtful.
4. LGBT groups at the Dahu Festival
In recent years, in addition to ascetic monks, saints, and ordinary members of the public, there are a group of special groups of people who have participated in the Dahu Festival—LGBT groups. They were only allowed to participate in this event in 2013.
For decades, India’s transgender community has fought relentlessly against India’s conservative beliefs to give themselves equal rights with the rest of society.
In 2018, India’s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex sexual acts were not guilty, overturning a ban that has survived more than 150 years since the British colonial period, which is a huge encouragement to the LGBT community in India.
Although gay marriage in India is still illegal, as many as 2 million members of the transgender community have been allowed to appear at such large religious events, which is a step forward in Indian society.
At the Big Pot Festival, the LGBT community dresses up extravagantly, and they bathe in the river like ordinary Hindus to wash away their sins.
5. Full frontal nudity
As the world’s grandest “naked carnival”, there are many men on the Dahu Festival without covering their bodies, which is one of the main reasons why the Dahu Festival is wildly popular with Western celestial enthusiasts and hippies.
At the Dahu Festival, which is crowded with people, there are “exhibitionists” everywhere.
However, only men can be naked. In this country where the status of men and women is unequal, no women dare to be as naked as men, otherwise, they will face huge social pressure.
6. The indispensable “magic cloth towel”
For Hindus to bathe in the holy river, the cloth towel is a magical recipe.
In the absence of any washing and changing facilities, how do Hindus go directly into the river to bathe and get dressed on the shore?
This piece of cloth has multiple functions such as bath towel and body cover.
Most of the bathers in the river will wear underwear, men are mainly underpants, and women are fully clothed.
But when they’ve finished bathing and come ashore soaking wet, that’s when the square cloth comes in handy.
Family members on the shore will hand them a towel that is large enough to cover their entire bodies. After they have wiped their bodies, they will cover themselves under the towel, take off their wet underwear, and put on clean underwear.
Clothes, the whole process flows smoothly in one go.
In the author’s opinion, a slightly awkward scene, in the eyes of Hindus, is extremely skilled and natural.
With this recipe, Indians can bathe in the river anytime, anywhere.
7. Calendula officinalis
During grand Hindu religious ceremonies such as the Big Pot Festival, Hindus will throw flowers into the water and offer various flowers to the gods, among which the most striking is the calendula.
Calendula officinalis, also known as calendula officinalis, is native to Mexico. In “Dream Travels”, calendula officinalis is what Mexicans use to pay homage to the dead.
In Mexico, on the annual Day of the Dead, people sing and dance all night long to celebrate the moment of reunion with their deceased relatives.
In Europe and the United States, the meaning of the flower language of marigold is also “sad”, “separation” and “sorrow”.
In India, saffron calendula has become the most common and durable religious flower because the color of the flower is close to the color of saffron on the Indian flag, which is a symbol of Hinduism.
Calendula chrysanthemum has a long flowering period, dense flowers, firm petals and bright colors. Even after being made into garlands and bouquets, it can still show a relatively full blooming state for a long time.
8. Xuanzang’s records on the Dahu Festival
Just as the written records of ancient Indian history have been lost, and it is necessary to look for memories through Xuanzang’s “The Great Tang Dynasty”, the earliest written records about the Dahu Festival still come from Xuanzang:
“The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty” records that King Jie Ri held a “uncovered meeting” every five years and a “debating law meeting” every year: “There is an uncovered meeting at the age of five, and the treasury is exhausted. There is a group of Hui Shi, only weapons are kept, not sandalwood houses. At the age of one year, they gather monks from various countries, and for three or seven days, they make offerings to four things, adorn the Dharma throne, and widely decorate the righteous feast. , praised and criticized Shu, and dismissed Youming.”
The corresponding Sanskrit transliteration of “No Covering Conference” is “Panshayu Se”, which is a free translation of “five-year-old banquet”, which is the literal meaning: a meeting held every five years.
According to the “Great Wisdom Theory”, a hundred years after the Buddha’s extinction, King Ashoka created the “five-year-old feast” style, and later emperors or princes followed suit, once every five years, with various offerings such as feasts.
Because there is no distinction between the sages, the sages, the vulgar, the high and the low, and the equal giving, unlimited, and unstoppable, it is called “uncovered”.
The conference can last up to three months and was once popular in India and the Western Regions.
