The Kanvar Pilgrimage--Overview
The Kanvar Mela is a festival in which pilgrims draw water from Hardwar (or some other place) and carry it a temple (often in their home village) as an offering to Shiva. One of these festivals is in late winter (before Shivaratri) and the other during Shravan (monsoon). Pilgrims time their departures to arrive on particular festival days.
Pilgrims tend to travel in groups, and each group enforces particular rules on its members These can vary considerably, especially with regard to ritual purity. Yet one of the most common rules is that once the water vessels have been placed in the kanvar, it cannot touch the ground again. I believe that this prohibition comes from the charter myth of Vaidyanath Dham in Jharkhand, in which Ravana placed a Shiva linga on the ground, and it stuck fast in place (pilgrims there also carry Ganges water as an offering to Shiva).
This kanvar has water vessels suspended below the carrying pole, and its decorations suggest the homology between the kanvar (as a sacred object) and a temple. It also shows the attention and care pilgrims give to this.
Kanvar pilgrims are overwhelmingly male, and many are from villages and small towns, such as these men from district Meerut. Pilgrims usually spend a few days wandering Hardwar and seeing the sights before leaving.
Many Hardwar locals disparage these men as uncouth rustics, but they have a certain rough charm, and were perfectly polite to me.
The group at bottom left is heading toward the stairs to leave, but many others are having their baths or simply taking in the scene.
Pilgrims time their departure based on the distance to their destination. All pilgrims want to arrive at their destinations by a certain precise time--in winter on Shivaratri, and in Shravan on the 13th day of the waning moon (known as the pradosh vrat, and sacred to Shiva).
Before they leave there are all sorts of preparations--including having shirts made, buying a few last-minute items, and wandering around the town with one's companions. Though the physical demands of this festival can be substantial, it is also a bonding opportunity for the participants, who share the travel and the experience.
And there's always the chance for a little impromptu entertainment--such as this man here, who did back flips in the air by the side of the road. Note the continuous line of departing pilgrims behind him.