essay on a visit to Allahabad in Kumbh Mela 360 words
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The Prayag Kumbh Mela is a Hindu festival mela held at Prayag Triveni Sangam – the meeting points of three rivers: the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati – in Allahabad (officially known as Prayagraj), India.The festival is marked by a ritual dip in the waters, but it is also a celebration of community commerce with numerous fairs, education, religious discourses by saints, mass feedings of monks or the poor, and entertainment spectacle.
The full Kumbh mela is held every 12 years, while an ardha (half) mela is held after about 6 years at the same site. The 2013 Kumbh mela was the largest religious gathering in the world with almost 120 million visitors. An Ardh Kumbh Mela was held in early 2019. The next full Kumbh mela is scheduled for 2025. The exact date is based on the Hindu luni-solar calendar and is determined by the entry of planet Jupiter in Taurus zodiac and while the sun and the moon is in Capricorn.[4][note 1]
The Mela is one of the four fairs traditionally recognized as Kumbh Melas. An annual fair, known as Magh Mela, has been held at Prayag Triveni sangam since ancient times (at least early centuries CE). The site, its sacredness, bathing pilgrimage and the annual festival is mentioned in the ancient Puranas and the epic Mahabharata. The festival is also mentioned in later era texts such as those by Muslim historians of the Mughal Empire. However, these sources do not use the phrase "Kumbh Mela" for the bathing festival at Prayag (renamed Allahabad during the Mughal era). The earliest mention of a Kumbh Mela at Allahabad occurs only after the mid-19th century in colonial era documents. The Prayagwals (local Brahmins of Prayag) are believed to have adopted the kumbha and the 12-year cycle of the historic Haridwar Kumbh Mela for their annual Magh Mela around this time. Since then, every 12 years, the Magh Mela turns into a Kumbh Mela, and six years after a Kumbh Mela, it is an Ardh Kumbh ("Half Kumbh") Mela.
The Kumbh Mela in India attracts more people than any other holy gathering in the world. It reflects the collective urge of the Hindus. It represents an abiding faith in spiritual values. This holy festival is a congregation of God fearing people. When people attend this festival they seem to forget all distinctions of caste, creed, language or region. They become part of the universal soul. If anyone wants to see unity in diversity, there can be no better example than India’s Kumbh Mela.
The Kumbh Mela has a mythical background. According to the Puranas, at the dawn of creation, gods and the demons started “Samudra Manthan” i.e., churning of the ocean which, it was thought, had infinite wealth. Out of 14 gems found in the ocean, one was “Amrit” i.e., Nectar. A sip of this rare Nectar was enough to make a person immortal. Therefore, both gods and demons clamoured for it. Gods entrusted Jayanta, son of Indra, to keep the pitcher containing Nectar in his safe custody for the exclusive use of the gods. Shukracharya, the king of tire demons ordered the demons to snatch the pitcher (Kumbh) from Jayanta. The gods and demons fought a 12-day battle (according to the gods’ calendar, but 12 years as per human calendar) to gain control of the pitcher. Jayanta had to run from place to place but he took rest at 12 places out of which 4 were on earth. The four places on earth where he took rest and where a few drops of Nectar spilled over and made the place holy are Hardwar (Har Ki Pauri), Allahabad (Prayag), Nashik (Godavari Ghat) and Ujjain (Shipra Ghat). Since then Kumbh Melas have been taking place at one or the other of these four places every 12 years.
Another reason why the Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 12 years is due to the fact that Jupiter completes a round of the Zodiac in about 12 years when a certain combination of 4 planets viz. Sun, Jupiter, Aries and Aquarius takes place. Purna Kumbh Melas are held at Nashik and Ujj ain when Jupiter is in the sign of Leo and the Sun in Aries or Leo. Likewise, Ardha Kumbh Melas are celebrated at Hardwar when Jupiter is in the sign of Leo, the sixth from Aquarius.