Burning Man at Kumbha Mela, Haridwar, India, 2010

Burning Man is an annual event held in the Black Rock Desert, in Northern Nevada, USA. The event is open from the last Monday in August to the first Monday in September every year. However, people in India have been burning for the past 2000 years.

Burning Man is an annual event held in the Black Rock Desert, in Northern Nevada, USA. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. The event is open from the last Monday in August to the first Monday in September every year. In 2008, 49,599 people participated in Burning Man. However, people in India have been Burning for the past 2000 years. The Indian culture has been practicing many rituals over the millennia which are sure to attract your attention. One of them is the largest act of faith “Kumbha (Kumbh) Mela”. We are happy to invite you to the most magnificent event in the world – the Kumbha (Kumbh) Mela. As the idea of Kalpavāsi has so many similarities with the Burning Man, we feel privileged to associate with you, fellow Burners . We are excited to see the Ravan Dahan (the Indian ritual of Burning the ten headed demon Ravan, the antagonist from the Ramayana) and the Kama Dahan being emulated through the Burning Man to such gigantic proportions. We believe that Burners will derive the same pleasure from the Kumbha Mela as from the Playa. Kalpavāsi combines the best of both the worlds – the Indian spirituality and the western sensitivity. It’s a great adventure just to visit India anytime and whole lot more amazing during the Kumbha (Kumbh) Mela. We see many similarities between the Kumbha Mela & Burning Man: •Both can’t be explained, only experienced. •Both need a special sense of adventure and curiosity and make a person hone their survival capabilities. •Both are expressions of art and culture, albeit in a unique paradigm of the east meeting west and west meeting east. •Both have bonhomie and sharing as their crux. •Burning Man says - You'll leave as you came. When you depart from Burning Man, you leave no trace. Everything you built, you dismantle. •Kalpavāsi says – You’ll leave as you came. When you depart from this earth, you will leave no physical trace, only the spiritual; what you have experienced and what you have contributed to the Humanity shall be the only things left behind. Everything including the Universe is Transitory, therefore seek and enjoy Bliss. •Burning Man - Over time, vivid images still dance in your brain, floating back to you when the weather changes. •Kalpavāsi – Over time you shall control your mind and make even the most mundane image dance. •Burning Man community - whether you’re friends, new acquaintances or the Burning Man project; embraces you. •Kalpavāsi community – you are fellow Burners and the Kumbh makes you a part of the whole •At the end, though your journey to and from both the Burning Man and the Kumbha Mela are finished, you embark on a different journey — forever. We have a special link to answer all your queries on the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, India: http://www.kalpavasi.com/bm/index.html