The Kumbh Mela or Kumbh – literally the festival, the Mela pitcher kumbha – is a Hindu pilgrimage that occurs four times every twelve years and held, in turn, in the holy places: Prayag, the Hindu name Allahabad, in Uttar Pradesh, Haridwar in Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh Ujjain and Nasik in Maharashtra.

Each cycle includes twelve years Maha Kumbh at Prayag Kumbh or large, which involved several million people, making it probably the greatest pilgrimage on earth. Estimates consider that during the last Maha Kumbh in 2001, 70 million people have succeeded on the banks of the Ganges in three weeks.

The historical origins

The historical roots of the Kumbh are perhaps propitiatory ceremonies held at the time of sowing, ceremonies in which jars of beans are soaked in the waters of holy rivers and put to germinate. It was also considered a fertility ritual, symbolizing the jug in form not only the Mother Goddess but also the uterus, the womb of the world.

It would be naturally associated with water, in general, and particularly those of rivers, rivers have always played a major role in the Indian world, since the civilization of the Indus Valley, at least, as seems indicate the tank of Mohenjo-daro.

In the seventh century, King Harsha invited to attend at Prayag Xuanzang, perhaps, the Kumbh and the Chinese pilgrim made on this occasion the first historical mention of the event. Some historians, however, deny that he has acted in this particular festival.

It is believed, however, that the Hindu reformer Adi Shankaracharya is behind the gathering of philosophers, wise and holy men during the Kumbh to establish doctrine and to instill in his time, a revival in the Hinduism, which had suffered for several centuries the power of Buddhism and Jainism.
The original legend

The observance of Kumbh is based on the Hindu myth of the churning sea of milk. In ancient times, the devas and the asuras, gods and demons made a temporary alliance in order to work together to create the amrita, the nectar of immortality from the Ksheera Sagara the primordial sea of milk, and then share the amrita.

However, when the Kumbha, the jug containing the amrita appeared, the demons took it and ran away pursued by the gods. For twelve days and twelve nights divine, the human equivalent of twelve years, the gods and demons fought in the sky for the possession of the pitcher of amrita.

During the battle, drops of amrita fell at four places: Prayag, Hardwar, Ujjain and Nasik, why are these cities and sacred place of the celebration of the Kumbh.

Astrology and Kumbh

The precise dates of the Khumbhamelâ are determined, as often in India, by astrological methods, based on the positions of the sun, moon and Jupiter:

* At Prayag, the Maha Kumbh is held in the month of Magha, January / February of the Gregorian calendar. The highest merit is then obtained by bathing at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati, a virtual river, probably the memory of a river disappeared, the day the new moon, while Jupiter is in the Taurus and the sun and moon in Capricorn

* Haridwar, the Kumbh is held in the month of Chaitra and Phalgun, February / March / April of the Gregorian calendar when the sun enters Aries, the moon being in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Aquarius

* At Ujjain, the Kumbh is held in the month of Vaishakh, May in the Gregorian calendar, when the planets are in Libra, the sun and moon in Aries and Jupiter in Leo.

* In Nasik, Kumbh is held in the month of Shravan, in July on the Gregorian calendar when the sun and moon in Cancer and Jupiter in Scorpio.

The practices of the Kumbh

The cities that host the Kumbh is the scene at the beginning of the demonstration, ceremonial parades, which mark the official arrival of the holy men, mounted on a variety of modes, elephants, horses, camels, cars, palanquin, and carts, sometimes pulled by men showing devotion.

Generally Naga sadhu Baba, Shiva’s warriors, are the first to march under a shower of petals, and each sect tries to surpass the others by a splendid procession.

The most important event of the Kumbh is immersion in the river when the waters are transformed into amrita. The Hindus believe that truly immersed in water at this time the clean, and their ancestors of 88 generations of all their sins.

The most favorable dates, determined by astrological calculations, are the days of shahi said Shan. These days, the Akhara – or large gatherings of sadhu – lead a royal procession – shahi – which reached its apogee with the immersion in the Ganges (Snan).

The Naga Baba are the first to dive, they are naked and two, sometimes only trimmed a mala. Completing their ablutions, the sadhu covering their bodies with ashes. After the different sects of sadhu had bathed, scuffles with sometimes for reasons of precedence, the ordinary pilgrims, who waited patiently until then can access the water.

Apart from being immersed in the river, the pilgrimage to the Hindu Kumbh enables believers to receive the blessing of the sadhu, saints and yogis and another to the darshan ritual contemplation which transmits spiritual energy. Devotees travel and camps occupied by the paintings sadhu, receiving blessings in return and making offerings.

The Kumbh is obviously a particularly propitious for religious ceremonies, one of them being the introduction of thousands of sadhu and novices begin their life of ascetics. Similarly, it is an opportunity for sadhu confirmed receiving a promotion in their order or make a vow to follow a new asceticism.

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbhamela

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