KUMBH MELA 2010

Kumbha Mela, which occurs every twelve years when Jupiter transits to the zodiac sign of Aquarius, has gained international fame as "the world's most massive act of faith." Pilgrims come to this holy event with such tremendous faith and in such overwhelming numbers that according to David Osborn, a world renowned photographer who witnessed this event noted that – “Wave after wave, they formed a veritable river of humanity that flowed onto the banks of the Ganges to celebrate the greatest spiritual festival ever held in the history of the world, the Kumbha Mela.”
After twelve years, this international event is going to be held here at Haridwar from 12th February to 16th April 2010. This Multispeciality 150 bedded Charitable Hospital has been in the forefront in providing medical relief, food and accommodation to the pilgrims during all the nine such Kumbha Melas, since its very inception in 1901.

Magnitude of the Ensuing International Event

As per the past data and estimation, it requires more than 10 million dollars on preliminary organization for the Kumbha Mela. According to national newspaper reports – more than 5,000 gallons of purified drinking water every minute;8,000 buses which shuttle pilgrims in and out of the festival area that spread over 3,00- acres; 16,000 outlets and 6,000 poles which provided electrical facilities; 6,000 sweepers and sanitation employees who work around the clock to maintain health standards; 2,00,000 policemen, firemen, and the Indian National Guard to keep a constant vigil at checkpoints; closed circuit TV to guard against traffic congestion and other possible outbreaks or disturbances; and 1000s of doctors and nurses on call at all times at medical assistance stations.

Financial Requirement and Financial Crunch

With the Kumbh Mela 2010 commencing soon, this hospital at Haridwar will face extraordinary pressure to deliver medical relief to devotees and pilgrims. In addition, as recently foreign donations to the hospital have reduced sharply while costs have continued to rise, this 108 year old institution has begun to sustain deficits – Rs. 15 lakhs in 2008-09 and an expected Rs.35 lakhs in 2009-10. With this backlog, it will be difficult to manage the Kumbh Mela event without a helping hand from its well wishers and it is under these circumstances that we seek your support.

Need to Pool the Resources

This is probably the mightiest carnival that connects the entire humanity of this globe and hence is a superlatively rare occasion our mother country carved out several centuries ago. This is probably to corroborate the Vedic truth – “vasudhaiva kutumbam”, that is, all the humanity belongs to One family. From the practical stance, this mammoth work calls for a collective conscious effort and participation from every Member of Humanity.

From the angle of this hospital, this kind of gigantic gathering demands a full and thorough preparation to meet different stripes of exigencies for four months.

Institute’s Action Plan

It is the largest congregation of human beings on earth. Millions of people gather at Haridwar, the magnitude of which would be too immense to describe in words. On the flip side, there will be an exponential increase in patient population knocking at this hospital door and we have to scale up to be at least a distant match for this grand challenge. Obviously, we need to collect a good amount of fund to meet the expenses in providing medical and other services to the needy during this Mela.

Kindly note that all donations to the Sevashrama are exempt from Income Tax as per Income Tax Act U/s 80-G.

We shall be putting in all efforts to make this Souvenir a road-map, a guide, a historical telescope, a ready reckoner for the current event and much more. More importantly, weare also plugging away at the Souvenir to chisel a unique platform / ramp for entrepreneurs / advertisers to publicise their products among millions of tourists from the world. The money garnered through such publication will enable this charitable hospital to meet huge expenses on providing medical aid and food to the visitors during this long period of intense activity.

Size of the Souvenir      24 cm x 18 cm

Print Area                      20 cm x 14 cm

Medium of printing        Photo offset

We are forwarding herewith a Form so that you may send the same duly filled in along with a cheque / D D of the tariff amount (as per tariff quoted below) for the advertisement to be published conspicuously in the said Souvenir.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

(Swami Nityasuddhananda)

Secretary.