CDU student Abhishek Singh has returned from a cultural experience of a lifetime - the Maha Kumbh Mela
If you have ever wondered what Coldplay’s Chris Martin would look like after being spiritually cleansed in a sacred Indian river, Abhishek Singh has your answers. Find out why.
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If you have ever wondered what Coldplay’s Chris Martin would look like after being spiritually cleansed in a sacred Indian river, Abhishek Singh has your answers.
Mr Singh, a Charles Darwin University student and secretary of the Indian Student’s Forum, has recently returned from the Maha Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering.
The Maha Kumbh Mela – a gathering estimated to attract more than 400 million people yearly – is a Hindu pilgrimage celebrated every 12 years, with this year’s celebrations particularly unique because of a rare celestial alignment that happens once every 144 years.
Having taken a dip in the Triveni Sangam himself, Mr Singh said it was a unique experience to see so many people of different cultural backgrounds – including Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin – take part in the same rituals.
“It was really incredible to see that people were joining in even if they came from different backgrounds; it wasn’t just people from a nearby city or state,” he said.
“Maha Kumbh Mela is about faith, but it’s also about bringing people together.
“It’s such a beautiful experience, and one that can’t be explained in words. It’s something you can experience only when you are there.”
As the secretary and founder of one of CDU’s largest international student groups, Mr Singh said he hoped he could replicate that same sense of unity on campus.
“When I founded the group about 18 months ago, my goal was to represent Indian students but I also wanted to introduce people with diverse backgrounds to one another,” he said.
“It didn’t matter where people came from – we didn’t care about that – our only agenda was to bring people together so that we could enjoy and understand different cultures.”
Mr Singh said he hoped the experience would shape his role as a leader in his community, and he said he had high hopes of recreating a similar effect on a much smaller scale.
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