The film’s closing scene is the highlight of the Kumbh Mela, known as Mauni Amavasya, the new moon bathing day, which is considered the most auspicious time to take a holy dip at the sangam – the confluence of the Yamuna, Ganges and mythical Saraswati rivers. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, also appears in the film as an official guest of Hindu leaders seeking to harmonize relations between Hinduism and Buddhism. These include ritual bathing, dancing and theatre, head shaving, fire rituals, and other devotional activities. The filmmakers interview several of these spiritual teachers, and these interviews are often interconnected with visual and musical interludes that illustrate the diverse activities taking place at the event. The structure of the film is episodic with an underlying theme that builds, with visits to various elaborate camps set up by gurus and yogis, some of whom have unusual and extreme practices, such as keeping on arm raised for many years or sitting on a throne of nails over a flaming pit. Two of the visitors, Dyan Summers and Justin Davis, befriend a likable young Hindu monk Swami Krishnanand, who acts as their guide and translator, and appears in much of the film. Short Cut to Nirvana Looks at the Kumbh Mela from the point of view of four visitors from the US and Canada, each on their first visit to the event, although one, Los Angeles-based photographer Jasper Johal, is himself an Indian returning for the first time in 23 years. The Kumbh Mela is one of the largest human gatherings in history, with an estimated 70 million people attending the 2001 event Plot The 2001 event at Allahabad was also known as the Maha (great) Kumbh Mela, occurring only once every 12 Kumbh Melas, or every 144 years. During the fight, four drops of nectar fell to Earth and landed in the four locations where the Kumbh Mela is now held on a three-yearly rotation: Allahabad (Prayag), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. And from this ancient tradition comes a powerful and uplifting message of harmony, unity, and peace for all humanity.The Kumbh Mela (the festival of the urn) commemorates an event in Hindu mythology when the gods ( Devas) and the demons ( Asuras) were fighting over an urn that contained the nectar of immortality ( Amrita).
More than a simple account of the Kumbh Mela, this film is a sensory experience of an ancient, grand occasion, a swirl of color and motion, song and cacophony, the sacred and the surreal -spiritual India exactly as anyone would hope to find it. We also spend moments in the company of an honored guest, the Dalai Lama, as senior leaders of Hinduism and Buddhism join together in an historic moment of unity. We encounter some of the Kumbh Mela’s wisest and most fascinating characters, including an ascetic sadhu who has held his arm in the air for over 20 years, another who sits on a throne of nails, a Japanese devotee who is buried in a pit for three days, and a guru who proposes that Americans would do well to start meditating for three hours each day. SHORT CUT TO NIRVANA takes a voyage of discovery through this vivid and vibrant world, accompanied by an irrepressible young Hindu monk, Swami Krishnanand, and several Westerners, each on their own spiritual quest. This single act of faith is believed to cleanse the sins of a thousand lifetimes and secure release from the endless cycle of rebirth – literally a short cut to the state of purest bliss…nirvana. On the main bathing day, more than 25 million people bathe in the sacred waters. On certain auspicious days everyone takes a holy dip at the confluence of two actual rivers - the Ganges and Yamuna - and a mythical river, the Saraswati.
A vast tent city is established to accommodate the masses, and many of India’s greatest gurus and spiritual leaders set up camp to give discourses to their devotees. More than 70 million pilgrims attend this extraordinary spiritual festival, which has been held every 12 years near Allahabad, India, for over two millennia. The Kumbh Mela is the biggest gathering of people in the history of humanity – although few in the West have ever heard of it.
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