110 decibels of devotion and the asuras in Kanwar Yatra
"Who was the first Kanwar?" one of the young men from a group of Kanwariyas asked as I hesitantly approached them on the outskirts of
"Who was the first Kanwar?" one of the young men from a group of Kanwariyas asked as I hesitantly approached them on the outskirts of Delhi. I guessed Shiva. They laughed at the answer. "No. Ravana. Ravana was the first Kanwar. And who was Ravana?" A Shiva bhakt, I said. "Yes, but what else?" they asked rhetorically, adding, "He was a Brahmin. He was also an asura. We are also asuras. Have you seen any educated, employed person carrying the waters in a Kanwar? It is just us. We are paying for our past sins." Read Full Story The words were rather poignant, coming from a group of youths who could pass off as ruffians, or to some, kabaddi players. These young men, all of them in their 20s, seemed to have found asura as a way to appropriate their place in the Kanwar Yatra. The thumping bass from their Mad Max trucks was seemingly a sign of Shiva devotees' arrival, as they travelled from Har Ki Paudi in Haridwar to their villages, "seeking redemption". On the streets of Kalkaji in South Delhi, the music from their trucks registered 93 to 110 decibels on the Decibel Meter app. Legally, normal daytime levels of noise sit around 55 decibels in a residential area. A jet engine operates in the same range as the Kanwariyas' Mad Max trucks. A shotgun blast is around 120 decibels. The bass is deliberate. "Dhammak honi chaahiye, sheesha hilne chaahiye (The earth must shake. Windows must rattle)," one of them said. "That is the measure of arrival for us Shiv bhakts," the Kanwariya added. For people stuck behind these trucks for hours, the constant bass and nerve-racking can trigger palpitations and anxiety. The trucks often move slowly, or stop without warning.
The men on them are sometimes high on alcohol or other substances. The combination turns ordinary traffic scary, sometimes deadly. This is not to say that Kanwar Yatra is about hooliganism and chaos. It's just that the high-powered DJ systems and chest-thumping participants make some in the Kanwar Yatra stand out. Kanwar Yatra is the annual pilgrimage in which devotees carry Ganga water from Haridwar to offer at local Shiva temples in their villages, towns and cities. In recent years, large sections of it have taken the form of processions built around sound systems, Mad Ma style trucks, and open displays of intoxication. Kanwariyas India Today Digital spoke to said police in some stretches now restrict speaker size to 10X12 feet, and allow them only on the front sides of vehicles. The groups treat these limits as a "challenge". "We pool money, around Rs 25,000 for two days in one group of 15-20, and hire DJs known for volume. DJ Kasana, DJ Ravan, DJ SarZen," they pointed out, saying, I should check out their Instagram pages. For a group that size, the cost comes up to roughly Rs 1,700 per person. "In fact, the kanwariyas also compete during the Kanwar season, and whoever is the loudest wins," he said. Surprisingly, most of the DJ names mentioned by the kanwariyas have lakhs of followers. Kanwariyas pose for a photo at the Delhi border as they make their way back to their hometowns after collecting Ganga water from Haridwar during the annual Kanwar Yatra. (Image: Anand Singh) WHAT 110 DECIBELS CAN DO TO THE BODY Noise at the levels recorded around the Kanwar trucks is dangerous in multiple ways. The WHO identifies environmental noise as a health risk associated with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment, hearing impairment and mental-health effects.
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