Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather at a sacred river for a bath in the river. It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Prayag (Allahabad), Nasik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year. Ardh (Half) Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Haridwar and Allahabad, every sixth year. The rivers at these four places are: Ganga (Ganges) at Haridwar, confluence (“Sangam”) of Ganga and Yamuna at Prayag, Godawari at Nasik and Shipra at Ujjain.
“Kumbh” means a pitcher and “Mela” means fair in Hindi. The pilgrimage is held for about one and a half months at each of these four places where it is believed in Hindu mythology drops of nectar fell from the Kumbh carried by gods after the sea was churned. The festival is billed as the "biggest gathering on Earth". There is no scientific method of ascertaining the number of pilgrims even approximately and the estimates of the number of pilgrims bathing on the most auspicious day may vary very widely from two to eight million depending upon the team(s) of persons making the estimate and the rough method of making the estimate.
The current Kumbh Mela began on 14 January 2013 at Allahabad (Prayag).
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