I hadn’t even dreamt of this program yet, however the story really begins here…
On Dec 5th, 2000, with four years documenting the New England music scene under my belt, I arrived on the Sangam to document the largest gathering in the history of the world, the Hindu pilgrimage festival, Maha Kumbh Mela, 2001. In Sanskrit, Sangam means confluence. In Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh the Sangam is not only where the Ganga (Ganges), Yamuna, and (mythical) Saraswati rivers converge, but also where, every twelve years, tens of millions of people from all over the world converge for one single purpose. That is to bathe in these holy waters. Hindu Mythology tells us that by entering the Sangam on very specific bathing dates (determined by Vedic Astrology) one will purify one’s soul of all sins, thus washing away life-times worth of karma. The 2001 Mela was particularly auspicious because it was the 144 in a continuous cycle of twelve, and the first major gathering of the new millennium.
But how did I wind up there?
Rewind to early Summer 2000… despite my family’s dismay, something in my gut told me, it would be far more advantageous to attend (and photograph) a three day music festival in Pennsylvania, than travel to Providence to watch my twin sister walk across a graduation stage to receive her MFA from RISD. So I did.
After a night of heavy thunderstorms, rain and tornados, I rose out of my tent one morning to sunshine, and Casey Meade. I hadn’t seen him most of the year; he had been in India and literally just returned, glowing.
As usual, I had my cameras with me. He asked if I was still photographing festivals, and told me of a festival he learned of in India and that he wanted to make a film about it. He though I may be interested in joining the crew. Naturally I was.
During the production of “Take Me to the River” in 2001, Projectile Arts set up it’s first collaborating artist community. Nearly twenty of us lived and created on the second floor and rooftop of Adi Veni Madhav Mandir, a small family run temple in the village of Arail across the Sangam from Allahabad. I joined the crew as an Associate Producer and still photographer.
I stayed in that village for nearly four months (with several short trips to Varanasi) spending much of my time mingling among Juna Akhara naga sadhus. I also got to attend the first sadhvi (ascetic women’s) convention held at Santoshi Mata Ji’s camp during the festival, where I video-taped and photographed many of the sadhvis I would later get to know (in 2004 & 2007).
After the Mela came to a close and the Sangam area returned to an empty deserted beach, I traveled to other pilgrimage spots along the Ganga, including Haridwar (one of the 4 Kumbh Mela sites) and Gaumukh (glacier source of the Ganga River). During my five and a half months of travel, I probably shot nearly 100 rolls of film, many of which have never made it beyond a printed contact sheet. I also wrote extensive emails accounting my travels, my experiences, and my (initially quite) naïve impressions of it all. [read those emails here - coming soon]
Needless to say, I was completely changed from that experience, mesmerized by the energy of those rivers, and devotion of the people who worship them. I vowed to return, assuming I would document the entire first twelve-year cycle of the millennium. Then came the “knee incident”…
people say…