The Maha (grand) Kumbha Mela is held every twelve years on dates selected by astrologers to be the most auspicious. The name means "festival of the pot" and is derived from Hindu mythology. The story is that some Hindu gods churned a sea of milk to obtain an elixir (called amrit) that could give eternal life. Apparently they got in some trouble for this for a chase ensued and they fled with the pot full of ambrosia for twelve days. Twelve days for the gods equals twelve years for people. On their journey they stopped four places to rest before carrying the pot to heaven and each time they stopped they spilled a little rendering those spots holy. Allahabad is one of the places the ambrosia was spilled. The other three spots also have Kumbha Mela’s but they are smaller events and are held different years. The Allahabad event is the largest.

Just how large is this event? Well, the last one, in 1989, was estimated to have had 15 million participants. It is projected that this coming Kumbha Mela will have between 25 and 30 million people! In order to get an idea of how big this is, the state of California, the most populous state in the U.S., has a population of about 33 million. Imagine fitting almost the entire population of California into just over 50 square kilometers!

Pilgrims converge from all over the world to bathe in the holy rivers where the ambrosia was spilled. They believe that, by bathing during the Kumbha Mela, they will be cured of all evils and receive salvation. The waters of the holy confluence of three sacred rivers, the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the invisible river Saraswati, are determined to be charged with positive energy at certain times picked out by astrologers as being the most auspicious. During the Kumbha Mela, which lasts almost two months, there are six such dates with the most auspicious one being January 24, 2001. On this day, the population of the festival will be the greatest as pilgrims come to bathe.

Scholars have found evidence of the beginnings of the Kumbha Mela as long ago as 3464 B.C. In 643 A.D. Chinese explorer Huan Tsang visited Allahabad (then called Prayag) and wrote, "...the mela is an 85 day assembly of wandering sadhus, sanyasis and intellectuals from all over the country. Worships were offered to Buddha, Sun, Shiva. Buddhist monks, the Brahmins and Jain heretics received gifts alike." It’s popularity has grown as transportation technology improved in the last century. At the Kumbha Mela in 1955 there were 6 million people. In 1977 there were 10 million and at the last one in 1989 15 million people were there.

The Maha Kumbha Mela is an incredible spectacle. Pilgrims, spectators, media and vendors come from all over. Gurus give teachings, sadhus display their practices and people participate in elaborate processions and rituals. It is said that miracles occur regularly at the Kumbha Mela. There is still time to book a ticket!

Special! 
Zenzibar has a correspondent at the Kumbha Mela, Dr. Tony Fernandes. We will be posting his articles and photos of the event as he sends them to us from India. Visit our Kumbha Mela 2001 page for these articles and also links to other sites posting information from the event.