Kumbh Mela 2019 – A hugh turnout this year

For many it is the Kumbh Mela.

Kumbh Mela is the largest peaceful gathering in the world.

Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred or holy river. Traditionally, four fairs are widely recognized as the Kumbh Melas: the  Prayagraj Kumbh Mela , Haridwar Kumbh Mela, the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha, and Ujjain Simhastha. These four fairs are held periodically at these places. The main festival site is located on the banks of a river: the Ganges (Ganga) at Haridwar; the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the invisible Sarasvati at Allahabad; the Godavari at Nashik; and the Shipra at Ujjain. Bathing in these rivers is thought to cleanse
a person of all their sins.

At any given place, the Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years. At Haridwar and Allahabad, a Maha  Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years, with an Ardha  Kumbh Mela six years later.

The exact age of the festival is uncertain. According to medieval Hinduism, Lord Vishnu spilled drops of Amrita (the drink of immortality) at four places, while transporting it in a kumbha (pot). These four places are identified as the present-day sites of the Kumbh Mela.

The festival is the largest peaceful gathering in the world, and considered as the world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims. There is no precise method of ascertaining the number of pilgrims, and the estimates of the number of pilgrims bathing on the most auspicious day may vary. An estimated 120 million people visited Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 in Allahabad over a two-month period, including over 30 million on a single day, on 10 February. It has been inscribed on the UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

This year the Prayagraj Ardh Kumbh Mela,  2019 is being held at Triveni Sangam in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, from 15 January to 4 March 2019. At Rs 4,236 crore, this year’s mela in Prayagraj is costliest ever. Of the Rs 4,236 crore, the Uttar Pradesh government is investing Rs 2,000 crore, and the central government has allocated Rs 2,200 crore, of which Rs 1,200 crores has already been released. The Kumbh Mela is expected to witness an attendance over 20 lakh devotees which includes ascetics, saints, sadhus,
sadhvis, kalpvasis and pilgrims from all walks of life.

If you want to book your trip before it get over here is the website with all the information https://kumbh.gov.in/en/how-to-reach