How the world’s largest religious gathering inspired student’s diversity efforts

Attending the Maha Kumbh Mela was not just a culturally enriching experience for Abhishek Singh – the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will also shape his role as a leader within Darwin’s student community.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage celebrated every 12 years, but this year’s celebrations are particularly unique due to a unique celestial alignment that only happens once every 144 years.

Mr Singh, a Charles Darwin University (CDU) student and secretary of the Indian Students’ Forum, said the auspicious dates marked a 45-day period of celebration where millions of people gathered to bathe in the Triveni Sangam for a spiritual cleansing.

Having taken a dip in the river himself during his trip, Mr Singh said it was a unique experience to see so many people of different backgrounds and cultures taking part in the same rituals – he even caught a glimpse of Coldplay’s Chris Martin among the crowd.

“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.”

Mr Singh said he hoped to replicate the sense of unity he witnessed and was part of at the Maha Kumbh Mela among his peers at CDU.

As the secretary and founder of one of the university’s largest international student groups, he said he hoped to work closely with other cohorts to make space for diversity and empathy to thrive on each of CDU’s campuses. 

“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.”

Having seen that very goal achieved at the world’s largest religious gathering – which is expected to attract more than 400 million people – Mr Singh has high hopes of recreating a similar effect on a much smaller scale.