ALLAHABAD: Kumbh Mela that was started January 14, 2013 at Allahabad (Prayag) India is reaching its peak as February 10 bathing will be holiest day of this event. Around 5 million Hindus are participating in it. Over 7,000 policemen have been deployed to oversee the Sunday bathing ritual, along with 30,000 volunteers.
Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather at a sacred river for a bath in the river. It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad, Nasik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year. Ardh (“Half”) Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Haridwar and Allahabad (Prayag), every sixth year. The rivers at these four places are: the Ganges (Ganga) at Haridwar, the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at Prayag, the Godawari at Nasik, and the Shipra at Ujjain.
Kumbh means a pitcher and Mela means fair in Hindi. The pilgrimage is held for about one and a half months at each of these four places where it is believed in Hinduism that drops of nectar fell from the Kumbh carried by gods after the sea was churned.
