KUMBHA MELA

KUMBHA MELA:

It is a big Hindu Pilgrimage according to old Hindu mythology  the Kumbhamela occurs four times in twelve years at PRAYAG(ALLAHABAD), HARIDWAR,UJJAIN and NASIK and the Ardhakumbha every six years and the Great kumbha Mela after 144 years AT PRAYAG (LATEST WAS IN 2001)  attended by more then 6million people a world record.

   

 Kumbhamela is celebrated according to the movement of Jupiter and Zodiac.  VEDAS,PURANAS, and RAMAYANA and Mahabharta  ancient Hindu sacred books also mention kumbhmela and it’s importance for Hindus, the story goes back to long back when Devtas and ASURAS(demons) were fighting  and the Asuras were getting stronger lord, Vishnu arranged MANTHAN (churning) of (Ksheer sagar) with the help of Sheshnag ji and kashyap ji among several things a pitcher (KUMBHA) containing AMRITA was also found a war broke for the possession of the pot and GARUDA JI managed to flew away with the pot some of the drops from the pot dropped on these places Ujjain, Nasik, Haridwar and Prayag(Allahabad). Later Lord Vishnu managed to give Amrita to Devtas; therefore Kumbhmela is celebrated on these places.

   Kumbh Mela is attended by millions of people on a single day. The major event of the festival is a ritual bath at the banks of the rivers in each town. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardized.

Kumbh Mela is the most sacred of all the pilgrimages. Thousands of holy men and women (monks, saints and sadhus) attend, and the auspiciousness of the festival is in part attributable to this. The sadhus are seen clad in saffron clothes with plenty of ashes dabbed on their skin per the requirements of ancient traditions. Some called NAGA SANYASIS may often be seen without any clothes even in severe winter, generally considered to live an extreme lifestyle.

This time Haridwar will host the Purna Kumbha mela from Makar Sankranti (14th January 2010) to Shakh Purnima Snan(28th April 2010) based on Vedic astrology.

       All these places are well connected by train and road transport taxies and buses are available special arrangements are done to provide all sorts facilities like medical, security, banking and telecommunication and living, considering a large gathering of people lot of NRI’S AND FORIEGNERS do come to visit the KUMBHAMELA which has tremendous importance and is considered the path to Nirvana (Moksha). Indians especially Hindus of all walks of life visit kumbhmela. Make your travel plans in advance to avoid any inconvenience.