Maha Kumbh and public bathing across

civilisations
The Maha Kumbh has fascinated public figures and writers from different
lands and religions.
How does the practice of public bathing at the Maha Kumbh compare to
similar traditions in other civilisations?

An aerial view of the devotees taking a dip at Triveni Sangam during the ongoing Maha
Kumbh 2025, in Prayagraj on Tuesday.

With millions of devotees taking a dip into the holy waters of Sangam in Prayagraj during
the Maha Kumbh Mela, the 45-day event, held every 12 years, is the biggest festival
celebrating a public bath. History, myths, legends and faith come together at the Maha
Kumbh to develop a community feeling among the believers.

How has the Maha Kumbh fascinated public figures and writers? How does the practice of
communal bathing at the Maha Kumbh compare to similar traditions in other civilizations?
 THE MAHA KUMBH, A FAIR AND RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL

The Maha Kumbh has fascinated not only the devotees but also public figures and writers
coming from different lands and religions. In his travelogue Following the Equator: A
Journey Around the World (1897), American novelist Mark Twain expressed his praise and
sense of amazement at the faith of the pilgrims.

“These pilgrims had come from all over India; some of them had been months on the way,
plodding patiently along in the heat and dust, worn, poor, hungry, but supported and
sustained by an unwavering faith and belief; they were supremely happy and content, now;
their full and sufficient reward was at hand; they were going to be cleansed from every
vestige of sin… by these holy waters which make utterly pure whatsoever thing they touch…

It is wonderful, the power of faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the
old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such
incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it
is done in fear; I do not know… No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond
imagination marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites.” In his vivid account of the
Kumbh, Twain also called it a “fair as well as a religious festival”.

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 COMMUNAL BATHING IN MOHENJO-DARO AND ROMAN CIVILISATION

Though the Maha Kumbh is unparalleled in terms of number of devotees attending the event,
the practice of public baths has existed across civilisations, serving as a means to connect
people and provide opportunities for socialisation. Even in prehistoric times, the Great Bath
at Mohenjo-Daro, dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE, was a distinctive aspect of the
Indus Valley Civilization. It is believed to have been used for ritual bathing, despite the
civilisation’s advanced infrastructure, which included bathrooms in individual houses and an
excellent sewage system.

Whether they be oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds or modern amenities like spas and swimming
pools, sites of public bathing have played a central role in many societies and cultures
throughout history. For instance, in Roman civilisation around 3000 BC, bathing was a public
event and an occasion to socialise and connect with others in a leisurely manner. Looking at
archaeological, epigraphic and literary sources, American historian Garret G. Fagan, in his
book Bathing in Public in the Roman World (1999), wrote that a Roman bathing ritual
combined “what in modern terms would be considered a visit to a gymnasium, bathroom, and
massage parlour”.

Remains of many buildings, inscriptions detailing their construction, and literary works offer
a glimpse into the long and elaborate affair of Roman public baths. It involved stages of
undressing, application of oil on the body, exercise to work up sweat, cleaning the body with
a strigil (a curved scraper), and choosing a heated room from amongst the many with varying
degrees of warmth.

Similar to visiting a mall today, in the class-conscious Roman society, which however valued
communal life, there were both large and small bathing complexes. Large bathing complexes
were known as thermae and smaller bathing areas were called balneae, with slaves readily
available to scrape the body of rich bathers and do the chores. A Roman bath was also
believed to offer health benefits; Asclepiades of Bithynia, a Greek physician living in Rome,
advised bathing for health reasons. However, lack of cleanliness and hygiene, and filth from
the use of strigil also posed health risks.

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 HAMMAM IN THE MUSLIM LANDS

The hammam, a public bath practiced in Turkey, Tunisia, Iran and many other Muslim
countries, bears a clear influence of Roman baths, though mediated by Islamic notions of
modesty and segregation of sexes. A hammam, like Roman baths, involves sweating,
washing, massaging and socialising, but it differs in that baths are typically taken in
individual rooms.

Often existing as an exotica in the Orientalist imagination, the famed Turkish bath
disappointed Twain. In The Innocents Abroad (1869), he described the site of the bath as “a
latticed chicken coop” which had nothing of “that voluptuousness one reads of so much.” For
Twain, “it was more suggestive of the county hospital than anything else.” On the contrary,
the hammam has provided many ordinary Arab women a valuable hour to break free from the
stranglehold of patriarchal control and foster female bonding.

In A Mountainous Journey: An Autobiography (1990, translated into English by Olive

Kenny), Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuqan recounts her childhood visits to the public bath with
her mother as an emotionally liberating affair. She describes the hammam in her town Nablus
as a congenial social center for women, featuring many doors, vaults, a large pool of water
and the passage for hot air. Reflecting on the atmosphere, Tuqan writes, “… I was delighted
with the spontaneity of these women, who lived in a much freer and more down-to-earth
atmosphere than that of the bourgeoisie, which was characterized by falsehood and
hypocrisy.”

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 PUBLIC BATHS IN OTHER CULTURES

Using water for therapeutic purposes, people in ancient Egypt bathed in the Nile River – their
life-giver and a centre of spiritual life. Egyptians also used calderas – large, bowl-shaped
volcanic depressions – for communal baths. Similarly, the Russian banya – a traditional
public bathhouse – was used to cleanse as well as gain spiritual experience.

In Korea, jjimjilbang – gender-specific bathhouses originating from natural hot springs –

have been frequented by families for relaxation. Meanwhile, Finnish saunas, still popular in
Finland, have been marked for their health benefits and public nature, offering people spaces
for meetings, celebrations, and social gatherings.

In the case of Japan, public baths date back to the 6th century and flourished during the Edo
and Meiji periods (17th to 19th centuries), becoming important centres of social life.
Japanese sentos (artificially heated baths), and onsen (hot springs getting their heat from the
natural volcanic activity), have also had a religious, spiritual, therapeutic, and social
significance providing an occasion for people to meet, interact, and build a community
feeling.

Mixed-gender konyoku onsen were also common in Japan until the 19th century. However,
with western norms of privacy and Christian stance on nudity becoming normative, and
personal and private bathrooms commonplace, there has been a significant reduction in the
number of sentos in Japan. This shift necessitates a discussion about the community spirit
that public baths engendered.

The late 19th century marked the advent of modern private bathrooms, enabled by
developments in indoor plumbing and bathroom fixtures. In recent decades, advances in
technology, sustainability awareness, and environmental concerns have further refined the
concept of private bathrooms. However, this focus on privacy has also contributed to the
dissolution of collective social identities into a loose and unconnected network of individuals.

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POST READ QUESTIONS

What role do history, myths, and legends play in shaping the significance of the Maha
Kumbh?

How have writers and public figures documented their experiences of the Maha Kumbh?

What are some examples of communal bathing practices in ancient civilisations?

Why has communal bathing been a recurring practice across different cultures and societies?

What social or spiritual purposes does communal bathing serve in different traditions,
including the Maha Kumbh?

BY, MOHAMMAD ASIM SIDDIQUI, A PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF

ENGLISH AT ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY.

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