Dispatches from the Maha Kumbh Mela in India, “the largest gathering of humans on the planet”. Its “aura of ancient, timeless continuity” might be more fabrication than fact. This Californian describes “babamobiles” (festooned vehicles); VIP plug-and-play camps built like space shuttles; naked, dreaded and ash-covered ascetics (“the classic Kumbh holyman”), and “the palpable presence of actual risk”