Melas and Mahotsavas
A Mela is an Indian fair. But, unlike the village fairs of the West, which are largely agricultural, an Indian mela is almost always concerned with some religious celebration.
However, it is a real fair, and serves the people of the countryside with opportunities for shopping as well as with amusement.
The Mahotsava, as we have had occasion to note already, is a grand feast on a sumptuous scale of all Vaishnavas in a community.
Many gatherings are called by this name, because the central feature of the celebration is a Mahotsava organised by the temple sevāits or the Gosvāmīs in commemoration of the birth or death of some well-known Vaishnava worthy.
The gathering may continue for days, and in all its features is the same as a meIa. Naturally these gatherings are the favourite resort of the mendicant members of the sect, and of all and sundry.
I quote a vivid description of one of these melas from a familiar source:
Vairāgīs, Bāuls, Nāgas and Nerīs, in their grotesque habiliments were all there, the music of the khole or Mridaṇga and of the kartāla was heard day and night. They sang the praise of Gopināth in merry groups through the village. They danced with wild excitement.
They shouted the names of Rādhā and Krishna till their throats became hoarse; they foamed at the mouth; they turned religious somersaults;
men and women danced together promiscuously, the latter excelling the former in the violence of their gestures; many mridangas and kartālas were broken through violence of striking and many women had fits of devotional fainting.
The excitement among the pilgrims - and their number was above 50’000 was immense.
... they were attracted to one particular group (of mendicant Vaishnavas), where the music and the singing were more vociferous and the dancing more violent than the rest:
There was one actor on this scene to whom every eye was turned, partly on account of the violence of the music - if music that could be called which was dissonance itself - which his kartāla sent forth, and partly on account of the vehemence of his devotional dance.
He was in a state of primitive nudity, save and except a small bit of rag called kaupina; a red cone-shaped cap was on his head; and his neck was encircled with a threefold bead roll.
He was singing, dancing and shouting at a tremendous rate; now falling to the ground, now jumping up, and now twisting his body in varied contortions as if in convulsions;
in a word, he was conducting himself in such n manner that any one not acquainted with the manners of the Vaishnavas would think that the man had gone daft. But the madder a Vaishnava is, the holier he is deemed by the people.
There are more than 50 of these Vaishnava celebrations in Bengal listed in the Bengali almanac. It is more than likely that there are many more unlisted.
To these should be added the large number of similar events held annually in the villages of Orissa. All these melas represent the popular life of the sect:
They are the gathering place of the people; to a certain extent, at least, the number and size of these melas are a gauge of the place of the sect in the lives of the common people.
Many of these celebrations are local events, having to do with anniversaries of no widespread interest or significance.
But the principle melas are of longstanding, having been celebrated through the centuries from the beginning of the movement.
Many of them commemorate the birth or death of the leading figures of the sect, or of Vaishnavas like the poet Jayadeva, at whose birthplace at Kenduli, in the Burdwan district, an annual festival is held which draws thousands of people.
These celebrations vary from 1-2 days to 2 weeks in duration, and in the case of the larger ones are attended by throngs of pilgrims. The chief among these melas at the present time are those held at Navadvīpa, Bāghnāpāra, Kheturi, Agradvīp and Pānihāti.
Until within recent years Khardaha was also the scene of an historic mela, commemorating the admission into the sect of the Buddhist mendicants.
The Mahotsava is a characteristic feature of current Vaishnavism that merits a word.
We have had occasion to mention it particularly in connection with the death of vairāgīs. There, as we have seen, it takes the place of the Śrāddha ceremony.
But in this connection it is not a very grand affair; indeed, it may involve only a few vairāgīs and very limited fare.
In its original sense the Mahotsava had something of the grand manner about it. It was a truly great celebration, at which food was served on a sumptuous scale.
The historical account of such an affair best known to us is that of the great Mahotsava at Kheturi, when the temple of Chaitanya was founded there in the early years of the 17th century:
To this occasion were invited literally all the Vaishnavas in Bengal of any standing, and all the resources of a well-known rājās were laid under tribute for entertainment.
More elaborate Mahotsavas are possible only to wealthy establishments, or when some householder of means makes a special gift to temple or Ākhrā for this particular purpose.
On the death of a Gosvāmī, or of a Mahant of a well-known Ākhrā, the establishments of those worthies are expected to provide the feasts.
In case a Mahotsava is limited mostly to the disciples and adherents of one Gosvāmī, it is often the custom for the ruling Gosvāmī to take a handful of food first, eat a little, and sprinkle the remainder over the food supplies, thus making it into prasāda.
The picture of the Mahotsava, drawn by Dr. Sen as of a public feeding of the poor and destitute, continued with open house by a householder to the point of complete exhaustion of his means, is hardly the celebration as it is known today in the sect. This may have been one phase of it as it existed in an earlier day.
But as a sect feature it was essentially a fellowship gathering of bhaktas, rather than a distribution of alms to the poor generally.
But today even the element of free fellowship unhampered by caste lines, which marked the celebrations of an earlier day, is largely lost. Caste lines prevent the feast from being a common meal.
Gosvāmīs eat by themselves and vairāgīs by themselves, and if householders are included, they form a third group.