Kumbh Mela - is a mass Hindu pilgrimage.
This Easter holidays I had the opportunity to visit Haridwar by road and take a holy dip at the brahm kund at Har ki pauri.
The Uttranchal government had made really good arrangements for the dip and also had made arrangements for car parking.
But availability of hotels was an impossible task. I had an opportunity to stay at Ved Vyasa ashram 5 km away from har ki pauri, at a place called sadhu bela. I could see a large number of sadhu’s living there and walking up to har- ki- pauri. I visited a lot number of temples like the bharat mata temple, gita mandir ,etc. and had a heavenly experience after visiting them. On inquiring about the kumbh Mela understood that :
The Purna (complete) Kumbh takes place at four places (Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik) every twelve years. while the Ardh Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag.The Maha Kumbh Mela ('Great' Kumbh Mela) which comes after 12 'Purna Kumbh Melas' which is after every 144 years. The 2010, Maha Kumbh Mela was attended by around 60 million people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world.
In Hindu mythology, its origin is found in one of the popular creation myths and the Hindu theories on evolution, the Samudra manthan episode (Churning of the ocean of milk), mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana
The account goes that the Gods had lost their strength, and to regain it, they thought of churning the Ksheera Sagara (primordial ocean of milk) for amrit (the nectar of immortality). This required them to make a temporary agreement with their arch enemies, the demons or Asuras, to work together with a promise of sharing the nectar equally thereafter. However, when the Kumbha (urn) containing the amrita appeared, a fight ensued. For twelve days and twelve nights (equivalent to twelve human years) the gods and demons fought in the sky for the pot of amrita. It is believed that during the battle, Lord Vishnu flew away with the Kumbha of elixir spilling drops of amrita at four places: Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.
After visiting haridwar I went to Rishikesh, i.e. 10km away from Haridwar. At Rishekesh I saw Laxman jhula Ram Jhula, and many temples.
Many tourists go in for river rafting.
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