Maha Kumbh to honour 'Damini' and celebrate woman power

21 January, 2013

During the on-going Maha Kumbh in Allahabad, on Feburary 12, the International Women Power Conference is being organized wherein a function will be held to honour the December 16 Delhi gang rape brave heart, the 23-year-old paramedic student 'Damini', who died of injuries suffered during the barbaric sexual assault by six men on a moving bus.

Quoting the chairperson, Anandmayee Puri of International Women Power Foundation (IWPF) at the Kumbh Mela, DNA reported that the function to honour 'Damini' will be organised along with a camp for women on yoga, spirituality and self-defence by the IWPF.

According to Open Society Foundations, another international NGO, there is a need to organise action to improve the status of women by strengthening legal frameworks, developing civil society’s capacity to demand accountability, and empowering women to understand and claim their rights.

I think it is a good move to bring the issue of gender sensitivity and human dignity during one the biggest human gatherings on earth. The collectivization of female ascetics in the Maha Kumbh to celebrate woman power through this conference by itself is an empowering act for their own equity in the religious affairs.

Furthermore, the Maha Kumbh this year is tipped to be the grandest ever show of human gathering on the earth in which about 10 crore people will be taking part in the 55-day fair. The most typical aspect is that it is a spontaneous and devotional act of people gathering, taking a dip, and feeling sanctified and liberated. The things for such a huge congregation get managed as a sort of miracle, which is being studied by renowned business schools as a case study this year.

The biggest congregation is witnessed at Allahabad since the timing is said to be most auspicious for the festival when the Jupiter is in Taurus and the Sun is in Capricorn and holy dip being taken at the confluence of three rivers or Sangam. This happens once every 12-year cycle and people in India look forward to this occasion as a part of their psyche and Moksha as the ultimate aim of life.