Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet
icon backReturn to Entries

Kumbha Mela

The Hindu festival, Kumbha Mela, which occurs every 12 years primarily at the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna rivers in North India, attracts millions of pilgrims to the site, which is regarded as the largest regular gathering of humans for any reason anywhere in the world. Religious melas, or festivals, are a fundamental part of every major religious tradition, and arguably, no other religion celebrates more festivals than does Hinduism. From the small village mela to large national events, melas are an integral part of the lives of Hindus. Of all the melas that occur in India, the largest by far is the Kumbha Mela.

Origins

Hindu Puranic literature tells of a time when, early in the current cycle of ages, the demonic forces in the spirit world, known as asuras, had grown in might, while that of the spirits of good, known as devatas, had greatly waned. Vishnu, the preserving aspect of the Divine in Hinduism, informed the devatas that they could regain power and attain various precious treasures in the process by churning the divine ocean of milk. Most important of these treasures was amrita, the nectar of immortality. However, because of their weakened state, the devatas would need to secure the assistance of the asuras to accomplish the feat. This they did by promising the demons a share of the amrita, a promise they did not intend to keep. The great Mount Mandara was put into the ocean of milk to serve as a churning rod, while a giant serpent named Vasuki was wrapped around the mountain and used as the churning rope, with the devatas and the asuras each holding one end of the serpent. As the churning began, various items emerged from the ocean, including a wish-yielding cow, a sacred white elephant, jewels, apsaras (divine dancing girls), wisdom, and also deadly poison. However, the one item that both groups sought the most to obtain was the amrita.

When the nectar finally came forth in a kumbha, or pitcher, an asura immediately grabbed it and was about to take a drink when Vishnu, disguised as an attractive young female, seduced the demon into giving up the container. As soon as he did so, one of the devatas, Jayanta, grabbed the pitcher and fled, with the demons in hot pursuit. During the chase through the three worlds, the nether realms, earth, and the heavens, Jayanta stopped at several places to rest, four of these on earth. Each time he set the kumbha down, a few drops of nectar spilled, thereby sanctifying four places: Prayag, Haridwar, Nasik, and Ujjain. Jayanta was pursued for 12 days before he was able to escape the asuras and give the devatas final possession of the nectar for themselves. Since it is the Hindu belief that 1 day of the devatas is equal to 1 human year, the Kumbha Mela takes place every 12 years to celebrate the spilling of the nectar on earth.

The Mela, Past and Present

The earliest historical account of the Kumbha Mela comes from Hiuen-Tsang, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India in the seventh century. He describes a month-long event that occurred on a 5-year cycle that was attended and financed by King Harshavardhan. At that mela, an estimated half a million people participated, including countless ascetics and mendicants and people of other religious faiths. Over the centuries, participation by members of the various ascetic and monastic orders has become an integral and pivotal part of the festival. The presence of fighting mendicant orders is also mentioned in later medieval accounts, and their development may have been in reaction to Muslim rulers of the time and their harsh and often brutal treatment of Hindus. Periodic reference to the mela over the centuries suggests that it has continued throughout its history to be a consistently important gathering for Hindu commoners, ascetics, and religious teachers.

...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Read next

More like this

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

close

Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches

close
close
close Signed In to profile You are signed in as:
close
Logged in Institution Institution