Ganges, as well as promoting the Mela
as tourism, spurring economic develop-
ment. This combination of business and
religion has roots in the past; in the early
nineteenth century, the annual spring
bathing fair at Haridwar was also a trad-
ing fair, particularly for horses. For many
people, the opportunity to view the
spectacle of the Mela is at least as strong
an inducement as the promise of
bathing away their sins. See also
Tortoise avatar.
Kumhar
Traditional Indian society was as a col-
lection of endogamous subgroups (in
which marriage is decreed by law to
occur only between members of the
same group) known as jatis(“birth”).
Jatis were organized (and their social
status determined) by the group’s hered-
itary occupation, over which each group
held a monopoly. The Kumhars’ heredi-
tary occupation was making pottery.
Kunbi
Traditional Indian society was as a
collection of endogamous subgroups
(in which marriage is decreed by law
to occur only between members of
the same group) known as jatis
(“birth”). Jatis were organized (and their
social status determined) by the group’s
hereditary occupation, over which each
group held a monopoly. The Kunbis’
traditional occupation was farming.
They were the dominant landholding
community in Gujarat.
Kundalini
(“spiral”) Kundalini, the latent spiritual
power that exists in every person, is one
of the most fundamental concepts in
tantra. It is the most vital element in the
subtle body, an alternate physiological
system believed to occupy a different
plane of existence than gross matter, but
which has certain correspondences to
the material body. The subtle body is a
set of six psychic centers (chakras),
visualized as multi-petaled lotus flowers
running along the spine and connected
by three vertical channels. Each of the
chakras symbolize human capacities,
subtle elements (tanmatras), and
sacred sounds. Above and below the
chakras are the bodily abodes of the
god Shiva (awareness) and the
goddess Shakti(power), the two divine
principles through which the entire
universe has come into being. The
underlying assumption behind this
concept is the homology (or the
similarity based on the common origin)
of macrocosm and microcosm, an
essential Hindu belief documented
in the texts of the Upanishads.
The kundalini is an aspect of the uni-
versal Shakti present in all human
beings; it is visualized as a snake coiled
three times around the muladhara
chakra, the lowest of the psychic cen-
ters. Although kundalini can be found in
all people, it is usually dormant, sym-
bolized by its coiled state. The object of
the religious disciplines (yogas) involv-
ing the subtle body is to awaken and
uncoil the kundalini, drawing it up
through the subtle body’s central chan-
nel (sushumna), piercing through the
chakras on its way. Kundalini’s ascent
represents the awakening of spiritual
energy. This awakening must be carried
out under a guru’s supervision to pre-
vent the aspirant from unknowingly
arousing uncontrollable forces. As each
chakra is pierced, it is believed to bring
either the destruction of obstructions or
the awakening of new capacities. When
fully extended, the kundalini rises to the
microcosmic realm of Shiva, the sahas-
radalapadmaat the crown of the head,
to unite with Shiva in perpetual bliss.
For further information see Arthur
Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), Shakti and
Shakta, 1978; Swami Agehananda
Bharati, The Tantric Tradition, 1977; and
Douglas Renfrew Brooks, The Secret of
the Three Cities, 1990.Kundalini Yoga
The religious discipline (yoga) focusing
on the kundalini, the latent spiritualKundalini Yoga