Anyone looking for a confluence of people and cultures from different parts of India must visit the Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. For a truly immersive ‘Bharat’ experience, they can attend one of the ‘darshan’ sessions of Puri’s Shankaracharya Jagadguru Nischalananda Saraswati, which is attracting a large number of mela visitors in recent days.
The shankaracharya was leading a gathering of about 20,000 devotees when I visited his pandal on the evening of Thursday, 23 January. Through a song, he demanded the declaration of India as a Hindu State.
“Hum Bharat brihat banayenge,
Kesariya dhwaj leharayenge,
Hum Hindu Rashtra banayenge…”
(“We will make Bharat great,
We will hoist the saffron flag,
We will create a Hindu state…”)
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.