Ritual Performance in Hindu Pilgrimage

Exploring Kalpvas in Prayag

Abstract

Kalpvas is an annual pilgrimage at Prayag (Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh) during the month of Magha (January-February), extending over a period of 45 days and involves a range of rituals performed on daily basis and pilgrims undertaking it are known as Kalpvasi. Even though Kalpvas has found only cursory mention in various Hindu religious literatures, every year pilgrims from nearby areas of Prayagraj coalesce to undertake this popular practice. Therefore, Kalpvas as a practice is located at the boundary of what qualifies as folk religion and classical or higher religion. Examining the functioning and the mechanics of Kalpvas as a performed ritual, this study explores the meanings that pilgrims construct and derive during the pilgrimage. These rituals are both private and public and since the participants live in close contact with each other, it also involves a conscious ‘performance’ on the part of the participants, as each participant becomes both object and subject of observance, enforcing and re-enforcing religious discipline. It analyses how akin to a performance, the Kalpvasi experience a kind of ‘flow’ and loose the sense of self and merge with other pilgrims and the ritual activity both.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46700/asssr/2024/v6/i2/2024120602004