Wednesday, January 13, 2010

KUMBHA MELA

Kumbha Mela

The largest religious gathering in the world! According to astrologers, the 'Kumbh Fair' takes place when the planet Jupiter enters Aquarius and the Sun enters Aries.

Kumbha (Kumbha means pot) Mela (means fair) is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage that takes place at the following four locations of India:

Prayag, Allahabad (in the state of Uttar Pradesh) at the confluence of three holy
rivers - Ganga (Ganges), Yamuna and Saraswati
Haridwar (in the state of Uttar Pradesh) where the river Ganga enters the plains from Himalayas
Ujjain (in Madhya Pradesh), on the banks of shipra river, and
Nasik (in Maharashtra) on the banks of Godavari river.

The pilgrimage occurs four times every twelve years, once at each of the four locations. Each twelve-year cycle includes the Maha (great) Kumbha Mela at Prayag, attended by millions of people, making it the largest pilgrimage gathering around the world. To the resonating sound of Vedic hymns, conch shells, cymbals and temple bells, the first 'snan', or holy dip, of the Mahakumbh Mela at Haridwar began in the early hours of Jan 14 2010 , the day when India celebrated the Makara Sankranti.Devotees pray as priests light up lamp to worship the Hindu holy river Ganges a day ahead of the beginning of Kumbh fair at Haridwar, India, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010. According to Hindu mythology Kumbh festival is celebrated in four places in India where drops of nectar of life is said to have fallen during a tug of war between the gods and demons in ancient times.

Thousands of pilgrims from India, and across the world, dipped into the achingly chilly waters of the holy river Ganga at Brahma Kund, an embanked stretch of the river just below the Shiva temple at the Har ki Pauri in the heart of the temple town Thursday.A pale sun shone through the mist at dawn as the crowd surged. The bathing hours will last through out the day and continue Jan 15, the day of Mauni Amavasya (new moon) and the solar eclipse.According to Hindu mythology Kumbh festival is celebrated in four places in India where drops of nectar of life is said to have fallen during a tug of war between the gods and demons in ancient times.According to Vedic myths, Hindus believe Haridwar is one of the places where a drop of 'amrit', or the nectar of immortality, fell from the 'Kumbh' pitcher when Garuda, the divine bird of Lord Vishnu, was spiriting it away during the war between the gods and the 'asuras' (demons).

Since then, Haridwar, along with Allahabad, Nasik and Ujjain - the four places where a drop of nectar trickled from the pot - have been celebrating the Kumbh Mela to commemorate the legend with seekers believing that a dip in the sacred waters at those places will give them immortality