Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Mega City

fascinating and beautifully composed

Few years back, Mumbai's Dabbawala appeared as a successful business case study, which was studied by the Harvard Business School (HBS). This time, Harvard University’s South Asia Institute takes deep interests in the Kumbh Mela, the largest human gathering on the earth around the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati at Allahabad during a particular season. Subsequently, HBS Case Collection included cases namely ‘Kumbh Mela: India's Pop-up Mega-City’ (2013) and ‘Government and the Minimalist Platform: Business at the Kumbh Mela’ (2013). The book titled “Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity”, co-published by Harvard University’s South Asia Institute, and edited by Rahul Mehrotra and Felipe Vera, gives the readers the inter-disciplinary perspectives from the social scientists, management strategists, public policy analysts, urban planners, and public health experts. Many of the key observations made in this book are based on ethnographic studies by a group of scholars from the Harvard University. The chapter authors not only elaborated and evaluated the infrastructural facilities made available during the Kumbh Mela period; they also appraised the spiritual affinity of the pilgrims who pay a visit to the pop-up city. The photo essays and individual portraits of pilgrims are a testimony to the happiness of the believers and public service providers. This book is a nice read for the South Asian scholars studying spiritual experiences of the pilgrims, and the uniqueness of the Indian civilizations.

Beautiful book, but also the text is repeated a lot each chapter. There's a lot of information about the festival though.

Un livre un peu encombrant et un poil lourd (1,450 kg) mais surtout une étude exhaustive qui permet de comprendre ce phénomène impressionnant qu'est cet immense rassemblement qui a lieu tout les quatre ans et à tour de rôle dans l'un de ces quatre villes indiennes Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik et Ujjain. En janvier 2013 la Maha Kumbh Mela de Praya (le nom sacré d'Allahabad) (Inde) aurait rassemblé 100 millions (only) de pélerins.Si l'anglais ne vous pose pas trop de problème et que le sujet vous intéresse allez--y !Sinon vous pourrez toujours passer en revue les nombreuses et belles photos.

Eccellente libro che tocca tutti gli aspetti di Kumbh Mela, la metropoli effimera. I documenti sono riportati fedelmente, e il corredo fotografico è impressionante.

Buen estudio sobre la Kumbh Mela realizado por la universidad de Hardvard. Buena intro. Muy técnico. magnificas ilustraciones. Buena lectura!!!!