Eat your heart out, Burning Man...

January 7, 2001 7:14 AM

Eat your heart out, Burning Man... Allahabad may become the world's largest city for the next six weeks. It's expected that at least 20 million people will attend the Kumbh, but numbers could rise to 70 million. Wow.
posted by holgate (10 comments total)

Check out the Java applet in the bottom right-hand corner - the reflection of the urn (I think it's an urn) has a Nazi swastika.

DOH! I bet there's gonna be at least a little shit flying over this one.
posted by SilentSalamander at 9:31 AM on January 7, 2001

I haven't looked, but you might be interested in this story:

At the beginning of WWII, a National Guard division from the US southwest (Arizona/New Mexico) had to change its division insignia on its shoulder patches. Until that point they'd been using a traditional Indian symbol -- the swastika.

It's an easy symbol to draw and an obvious one, and it's appeared several times around the world independently. Of course, now it's forever associated with the Nazi atrocity, but it's a mistake to assume that everywhere it appears is necessarily influenced by that.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 9:34 AM on January 7, 2001

Off topic, but there used to be a standard plot in some old Hindi movies, where families would get seperated in the "Kumbh ka Mela." I wonder how many new movies will use the Fair in their stories...
posted by riffola at 9:36 AM on January 7, 2001

The Swastika is a religious Hindu symbol. The Nazi symbol is a mirror reflection of the Swastik. Btw Swastika is a Sanskrit word.
posted by riffola at 9:37 AM on January 7, 2001

Is it really like Burning Man? Will Sasha and Digweed be there?

That's what Indian culture needs: Trance music.

=t=
posted by JimmyTones at 10:18 AM on January 7, 2001

riffola: completely on topic. In past Kumbhs, many children have been separated from their families, and never seen them again. This time, there's meant to be some kind of tagging/GPS system to ensure that Allahabad doesn't end up with a surplus of missing children. Not really the stuff of Bollywood, but there you go.
posted by holgate at 10:30 AM on January 7, 2001

Did someone say "Indian culture" and "trance music"?

The term 'Goa Trance' means a particular style of  music  which  is played  in the region of India, called 'Goa'. This style of music  is made by Europeans and people from other countries, who are inspired by the culture of this region. Some eastern post colonial countries are under  the influence of Europe  (India is one of them);  the same concerns South America and insular countries. It is one of the reasons why many people consider Goa-style trance approximately the same style of music as "psyche trance".
posted by allaboutgeorge at 11:35 AM on January 7, 2001

all so a bunch of dudes from india can take a bath....

posted by j.toronado at 3:05 PM on January 7, 2001

Goa

The place Goa has like three Indian people in it. It's basically a giant hippie commune on the coast of West India (although I guess more of a raver commune now?). Either way, you can see the effect of Indian music on techno more than any ethnic music, other than maybe the Spanish influence (because of Ibiza).

Peace,
Kevs
posted by Kevs at 7:51 PM on January 7, 2001

err...on my second visit to Goa I noticed exactly zero hippies and lots of package tours of senior citizens instead. Indian tourism ain't what it used to be.
posted by lagado at 10:15 PM on January 7, 2001