ABOUT MAHA KUMBH MELA

Kumbh Darshan - 2001

The Kumbh Festival – 2001 at Tirthraj Prayag began on the full moon night (Purnima) of the month of Paush. The Kumbh Festival is held at Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik every four years, but the Kumbh at Prayag has a special significance. The Kumbh Festival is marked by the fact that it is held at the banks of holy rivers every 12 years. In Prayag it is held on the banks of the rivers Ganga-Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, in Haridwar at Ganga and in Nasik at the Godavari. A great fair is held on these occasions on the banks of these rivers with a huge congregation of devoted pilgrims.

The Prayag Kumbh

This Kumbh is considered to be the most significant of all as it marks the direction of wisdom or light. This is the place where the sun, symbolizing wisdom, rises.
Creation of the universe is supposed to have originated here and it is supposed to be the center of the earth. Prajapati Brahma, the God of Creation, is said to have created the Universe after conducting the Ashwamedh Yagna at the Dashashwamedh Ghat here. The Dashashwamedh Ghat and the Brahmeshwar Temple still exist here as if as symbols of that holy yagna, and that is another reason for the special significance of the Prayag Kumbh. In fact Prayag and Kumbh are synonymous to each other.