Harvard presents case study on Kumbh Mela

India is not just about Taj Mahal making it to the wonders of the world list. It also boasts of one of the biggest religious congregation in the world - Kumbh Mela – and a study on the same will be presented at the 'annual symposium on South Asia. The event is to be hosted by Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 25-26, 2013.

To be held at the University's South Asia Institute (SAI), the two day-long symposium, ‘South Asia without Borders 2013' will:

• Focus on the timely appeal of South Asia to the humanities at the intersection of religion and civil society, ancient arts and cutting edge technologies
• Explore development, the juncture of caste and race, gender and human rights, social entrepreneurship and the arts, constitutionalism and development in South Asia

"Mapping the Kumbh Mela," Harvard University’s research of the pilgrimage will comprise an interdisciplinary study by 50-member team of staff and student researchers. The team visited Allahabad in January, 2013 to document and analyse the processes involved in Kumbh.

The team will further discuss the outcome of the case study and converse with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav – who has been invited to address the Harvad students – and  Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan at the symposium.