View source for Kumbh Mela

{{Short description|Hindu pilgrimage and festival in India}}
{{about|all Kumbh events around India|the most recent Maha Kumbh event|2025 Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| name               = Kumbh Mela
| native_name        = 
| native_name_lang   = 
| image              = {{multiple image
| perrow = 2/2
| border = infobox
| total_width = 300
| image1 = Third Shahi Snan in Hari Ki Pauri.jpg
| image2 = Kumbh Mela2001.JPG
| image3 = Nashik during 1989 Kumbh Mela.jpg
| image4 = Simhasth2016 Ujjain Snan1.jpg
| caption1 = [[Haridwar Kumbh Mela|Haridwar]]
| caption2 = [[Prayag Kumbh Mela|Prayagraj]]
| caption3 = [[Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha|Nashik]]
| caption4 = [[Ujjain Simhastha|Ujjain]]
| caption_align = center
}}
| country            = India
| last               = [[2025 Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela|Prayag Maha Kumbh]] (13 January&ndash;26 February 2025)
| next               = [[Haridwar Kumbh Mela|Haridwar Ardh Kumbh]] (March 2027)<ref>{{cite web | title=2027 Ardh Kumbh to be known as Kumbh | work=Live Hindustan | date=25 February 2025 | url=https://www.livehindustan.com/uttarakhand/haridwar/story-2027-ardh-kumbh-to-be-known-as-kumbh-major-announcements-by-commissioner-vinay-shankar-pandey-201740494223858.html | language=hi | access-date=1 March 2025}}</ref><br/>[[Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha]] (July–August 2027)<ref name="o810">{{cite web | title=Maha Kumbh 2025 concludes: When is next Kumbh Mela? | work=[[The Hindustan Times]] | date=26 February 2025 | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/maha-kumbh-2025-concludes-when-is-next-kumbh-mela-nashik-kumbh-2027-trimbakeshwar-101740587188253.html | access-date=1 March 2025}}</ref>
| date               = 
| genre              = [[Pilgrimage]]
| frequency          = {{plainlist|
*Every 6 years
*(Ardha Kumbh)
*Every 12 years
*(Purna Kumbh)
*Every 144 years
*(Maha Kumbh)
}}
| location           = {{strong|Primary}} {{flatlist|
*[[Haridwar]]
*[[Prayagraj]]
*[[Nashik]]-[[Trimbak]]
*[[Ujjain]]
}}
 {{strong|Other}}{{flatlist|*[[Bansberia Kumbh Mela|Bansberia]]<!--Do NOT delete Bansberia Kumbh Mela from Kumbh Mela's location section. Because Bansberia Kumbh Mela started after 700 years of closure. The official ancient primary sources also available according to this Mela. Prayagraj Kumbha Mela known as Yukta Tribeni Kumbh Mela and Bansberia Kumbh Mela known as Mukta Tribeni Kumbh Mela in ancient texts. Even Government of India recognised it official status as a Kumbha Mela.-->{{efn|The [[Bansberia]] Kumbh Mela at [[Tribeni, Hooghly|Tribeni Sangam]] started in 2022 after nearly 700 years of hiatus}}
*[[Mahamaham|Kumbakonam]]{{efn|Mahamagham is celebrated every 12 years in the [[Mahamaham tank]] in [[Kumbakonam]], [[Tamil Nadu]]. This tank is believed as the holy confluence of nine Indian river goddesses: [[Ganga]], [[Yamuna]], [[Sarasvati River|Sarasvati]], [[Narmada]], [[Godavari]], [[Krishna River|Krishna]], [[Tungabhadra]], [[Kaveri]], and [[Sarayu]].}}
*[[Kurukshetra]]{{efn|Kurukshetra Kumbh Mela occurs after every six years similar to Ardh Kumbh on the occasion of [[Amavasya|Somvati Amavasya]] at [[Brahma Sarovar]].}}
*[[Makar Mela|Panauti]]{{efn|Panauti Makar Mela is held every 12 years for the whole month of [[Magha (month)|Magha]] at Tribenighat, the confluence of Punyamati, Rudravati and the mystic Roshi (Lilawati) rivers.}}
*[[Rajim Kumbh Mela|Rajim]]{{efn|Rajim Punni Mela is celebrated every year during [[Magha (month)|Magha]] month for about 15 days at [[Triveni Sangam]] of [[Mahanadi]], Pairi & Sondur in [[Rajim]], [[Chhattisgarh]].}}
*[[Thirumakudalu Narasipura|T. Narasipura]]{{efn|Kumbha Mela at [[Thirumakudalu Narasipura]] occurs once in three years since 1989,  at the confluence of the [[Kaveri]], [[Kabini]], mythical lake Spatika Sarovara.}}
*[[Vrindavan]]{{efn|Vrindavan Vaishnav Kumbh is held every 12 years on the banks of the [[Yamuna]] River in [[Vrindavan]]. It is considered equivalent to the [[Haridwar Kumbh Mela]]. In  1760, after a violent conflict between [[Shaivites]] and [[Vaishnavites]], the Vaishnavas decided to celebrate the Kumbh Mela in Vrindavan instead of Haridwar. Since then, this tradition has continued.}}
}}
| first              = 
| URL                = {{URL|https://kumbh.gov.in}}
}}
{{Infobox intangible heritage
| ICH = Kumbh Mela
| Below = [[File:Unesco Cultural Heritage logo.svg|100px]]
| State Party = India
| Note = UNESCO Cultural Heritage
| ID = 01258
| Region = APA
| Year = 2017
| Session = 12th
| List = Representative
}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Kumbh Mela''' ({{langx|sa|Kumbha Mēlā}}, {{IPA|sa|kʊˈmbʱᵊ melaː|pron}}; {{lit|festival of the Sacred Pitcher}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Kumbh Mela Hindu festival begins in India |url=https://www.dw.com/en/kumbh-mela-hindu-festival-begins-in-india/a-47080307 |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |access-date=17 January 2025 |date=15 January 2019}}</ref>) is a [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[pilgrimage]], celebrated every four or twelve years, correlated with the partial or full [[orbital period|revolution]] of [[Jupiter]]. These are held at four locations&ndash;[[Prayagraj]], [[Haridwar]], [[Nashik]], and [[Ujjain]], with varying time intervals. As per the ''[[Puranas]]'', these sites are considered to have received the drops of the divine nectar (''[[amrita]]'') during the [[Samudra Manthana]] (churning of the ocean of milk).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Skanda Purana |volume=Part 8 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1996 |pages=Ch. 20–23}}</ref><ref name="Dubey">{{cite web|url=https://prayagraj.nic.in/tourist-place/sangam/|title=Sangam|work=[[Government of Uttar Pradesh]]|access-date=1 June 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Haghani |first=Milad |date=14 January 2025 |title=The world's largest gathering: how India plans to keep 400 million pilgrims safe at the Maha Kumbh Mela festival |url=https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-largest-gathering-how-india-plans-to-keep-400-million-pilgrims-safe-at-the-maha-kumbh-mela-festival-247210#:~:text=The%20Kumbh%20Mela%20is%20one,depending%20on%20specific%20astrological%20alignments. |access-date=14 January 2025 |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] }}</ref> The Kumbh Mela lasts between one and three months,<ref>{{cite book|author=James Lochtefeld|editor=Knut A. Jacobsen|title=South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WT2odZ7_d7MC| year=2008|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-134-07459-4|page=29}}</ref><ref name="Dwyer2016p150">{{cite book|author=James Mallinson|editor=Rachel Dwyer|title=Key Concepts in Modern Indian Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeUWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|year=2016|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-1-4798-4869-0|pages=150–151}}</ref> with the [[Amavasya]] day attracting the largest crowds.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/over-three-crore-take-holy-dip-in-sangam-on-mauni-amavasya/articleshow/18431156.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122023038/http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/over-3-crore-take-holy-dip-in-sangam-on-mauni-amavasya-590002.html |url-status=live |archive-date=22 January 2016 |title=Over 3 crore take holy dip in Sangam on Mauni Amavasya | work=[[India Times]] |date=10 February 2013 }}</ref><ref name=devotees>{{cite news |last=Rashid |first=Omar |title=Over three crore devotees take the dip at Sangam |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/over-three-crore-devotees-take-the-dip-at-sangam/article4401726.ece | work=[[The Hindu]] |date=11 February 2013 |access-date=1 June 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/mauni-amavasya-kumbh-expects-three-crore-pilgrims-to-take-holy-dip/liveblog/67825641.cms |title=Mauni Amavasya: Five crore pilgrims take holy dip at Kumbh till 5 pm |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=4 February 2019 |access-date=24 June 2020}}</ref> The festival attracts millions of people, with the largest gathering recorded at Prayag.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=225-226}} About 660 million attended the Kumbh Mela in 2025,
<ref>{{cite web |title="Whole World Is Surprised How...": PM Modi As Maha Kumbh Draws 66 Crore People |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-on-maha-kumbh-2025-sangam-prayagraj-yogi-adityanath-i-apologise-if-arrangements-inadequate-7805395 |access-date=1 June 2025 |date=27 February 2025 |work=[[NDTV]]}}</ref> and 200 million in 2019,<ref>{{cite news |date=21 May 2019 |title=A record over 24 crore people visited Kumbh-2019, more than total tourists in UP in 2014–17 |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/a-record-over-24-crore-people-visited-kumbh-2019-more-than-total-tourists-in-up-in-2014-17/story-9uncpmhBPnBj11ClnTiYQP.html |access-date=15 March 2022 |work=[[The Hindustan Times]]}}</ref> making it one of the [[List of largest peaceful gatherings|largest peaceful gatherings]] in the world.<ref name=britkumbh>{{cite web |title=Kumbh Mela: Hindu festival| work=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]|year= 2015|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kumbh-Mela|quote=The Kumbh Mela lasts several weeks and is one of the largest festivals in the world, attracting more than 200 million people in 2019, including 50 million on the festival's most auspicious day.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dinesh |first1=Nainika |title=On the Road to Allahabad |magazine=Contingent |date=27 May 2025 |url=https://contingentmagazine.org/2025/05/26/on-the-road-to-allahabad/ |access-date=27 May 2025}}</ref> It has been inscribed on the [[UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists#Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity|UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists?text=&country&#91;&#93;=00103&multinational=1#2021|title=Kumbh Mela|work=[[UNESCO]]|access-date=1 June 2025}}</ref><ref name=unesco1>{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/kumbh-mela-on-unescos-list-of-intangible-cultural-heritage/articleshow/61964578.cms|title=Kumbh Mela on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207192310/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/kumbh-mela-on-unescos-list-of-intangible-cultural-heritage/articleshow/61964578.cms |archive-date=7 December 2017|work=[[The Economic Times]]|date=7 December 2017}}</ref>

The Kumbh Mela is observed cycle at each site approximately once every 12 years{{refn|group=note|Approximately once a century, the Kumbh Mela returns after 11 years. This is because of Jupiter's orbit of 11.86 years. With each 12-year cycle per the Gregorian calendar, a calendar year adjustment appears in approximately 8 cycles.<ref name="Jacobsen2008p40" />}} based on the [[Hindu calendar|Hindu luni-solar calendar]] and the relative positions of the Jupiter, the [[Sun]], and the [[Moon]]. As per [[Hindu astrology]], specific alignments of the Jupiter, the Sun, and the Moon only occur at the four Kumbh locations in a 12-year cycle. The Prayag and Haridwar festivals are held with a six year gap in between, and feature a Maha (major) and Ardha (half) Kumbh Melas. The Kumbh Melas at Ujjain and Nashik are observed in the same year or one year apart,<ref>{{cite book|author=Matthew James Clark|title=The Daśanāmī-saṃnyāsīs: The Integration of Ascetic Lineages into an Order|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g3DXAAAAMAAJ |year=2006|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-15211-3|page=294}}</ref> typically about three years after the Prayag Kumbh Mela.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://hydrologie.org/redbooks/a286/iahs_286_0160.pdf |author=K. Shadananan Nair |journal=Proceedings Ol'THC. UNI-SCO/1 AI IS/I Wl IA Symposium Held in Rome, December 2003 |title=Mela |publisher=IAHS |year=2004 |page=165 |access-date=7 December 2017 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802231359/http://hydrologie.org/redbooks/a286/iahs_286_0160.pdf }}</ref> 
The festival is held at the confluence of major rivers, and people take a ritual dip in the waters, believed to be a means of [[prāyaścitta]] (atonement) for the past mistakes, and cleansing of their sins.{{sfn|Kane|1953|pp=55–56}}<ref name="Kama_Seeing">{{cite journal | last=Maclean | first=Kama |title=Seeing, Being Seen, and Not Being Seen: Pilgrimage, Tourism, and Layers of Looking at the Kumbh Mela|journal=CrossCurrents|date=September 2009|volume=59|issue=3 |pages=319–341|doi=10.1111/j.1939-3881.2009.00082.x| s2cid=170879396 }}</ref> Various fairs, educational events, religious discourses, mass gatherings of monks, and entertainment are also conducted during the festivities.<ref name="eckp154">{{cite book|author=Diana L. Eck|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uD_0P6gS-vMC|year=2012|publisher=Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-385-53190-0|pages=153–155}}</ref><ref name="sox5264">{{cite book|author=Williams Sox| editor= Lindsay Jones| title=Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd Edition| year= 2005|publisher=Macmillan|volume= 8|pages=5264–5265}}, Quote: "The special power of the Kumbha Mela is often said to be due in part to the presence of large numbers of Hindu monks, and many pilgrims seek the darsan (Skt., darsana; auspicious mutual sight) of these holy men. Others listen to religious discourses, participate in devotional singing, engage Brahman priests for personal rituals, organise mass feedings of monks or the poor, or merely enjoy the spectacle. Amid this diversity of activities, the ritual bath at the conjunction of time and place is the central event of the Kumbha Mela."</ref>

Before 1858, the name "Kumbh" was applied only to the 12th occurrence of an annual [[mela]] in Haridwar during the [[Vaishakha]] month. As mentioned in Hindu texts such as ''[[Ramcharitmanas]]'', an annual ''[[Magh Mela]]'' was held in Prayag during the month of [[Pausha]]. The Haridwar mela had seen clashes between rival groups in the past, which had resulted in multiple deaths in 1796. After the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] had been suppressed by the [[British Raj]], the Pragwals (traditional priest castes) in Allahabad proposed the idea of an organised pilgrimage at Prayag under the surveillance of the British. The first Kumbh Mela at Prayag was organised in 1870{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=99}} 

In other parts of India, similar but smaller community pilgrimage and [[Bathing Festival (disambiguation)|bathing festivals]] are held. These Magha or Makar melas that have been called Kumbh Mela include those held in [[Mahamaham|Kumbakonam]],{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=102}} [[Kurukshetra]],<ref name="merin5">{{Cite web |last=General |first=India Office of the Registrar |date=14 January 1972 |title=Census of India, 1971: Haryana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HCGqYAIVXvQC |publisher=Manager of Publications |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="merin7">{{cite book|year=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qHwkAQAAMAAJ&q=kurukshetra+kumbh|title=Town Survey Report: Haryana, Thanesar, District Kurukshetra|page=137-}}</ref> [[Panauti]],<ref name="Gerard Toffin 2012 330 with footnote 18">{{cite book |author=Gerard Toffin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gRoyAQAAQBAJ |title=Sins and Sinners: Perspectives from Asian Religions |publisher=BRILL Academic |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-23200-6 |editor=Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara |pages=330 with footnote 18}}</ref> [[Rajim Kumbh Mela|Rajim]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rajim Kumbh Kalp Mela 2025 |url=https://mpcg.ndtv.in/chhattisgarh-news/rajim-kumbh-kalp-mela-2025-begins-from-magh-purnima-to-mahashivratri-prayag-of-cg-shivrinarayan-mela-new-site-chaube-bandha-know-all-details-7690779 |access-date=26 February 2025 |work=[[NDTV]] |language=hi}}</ref> and [[Sonipat]].<ref name="satk1" /> These are also generally held at water bodies with various time intervals, and attracts a large gathering. For example, the [[Mahamaham]] is held in [[Kumbakonam]] once every twelve years, at the Mahamaham tank, near the [[Kaveri]] river.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=102}}<ref name="Eck2012p156">{{cite book|author=Diana L. Eck|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uD_0P6gS-vMC&pg=PA156|year=2012|publisher=Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-385-53190-0|pages=156–157}}</ref>

== Etymology and nomenclature ==
The ''Kumbha'' in Kumbha Mela literally means "pitcher, jar, pot" in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name="Misra2019p1"/> It is found in the Vedic texts, in this sense, often in the context of holding water or in mythical legends about the nectar of immortality.<ref name="Misra2019p1"/> The word Kumbha or its derivatives are found in the ''[[Rigveda]]'' (1500–1200 BCE), for example, in verse 10.89.7; verse 19.16 of the ''[[Yajurveda]]'', verse 6.3 of ''[[Samaveda]]'', verse 19.53.3 of the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'', and other Vedic and post-Vedic ancient Sanskrit literature.<ref>[https://sa.wikisource.org/s/139p Rigveda 10.89.7] Wikisource, [https://sa.wikisource.org/s/1720 Yajurveda 6.3] Wikisource; For translations see: {{cite book|author1=Stephanie Jamison|author2=Joel Brereton|title=The Rigveda: 3-Volume Set|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgzVAwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972078-1}}</ref> In astrological texts, the term also refers to the zodiac sign of [[Aquarius (astrology)|Aquarius]].<ref name="Misra2019p1">{{cite book|author=Nityananda Misra|title=Kumbha: The Traditionally Modern Mela|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcSGDwAAQBAJ |year=2019|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-93-88414-12-8|pages=1–2}}</ref> The astrological etymology dates to late 1st-millennium CE.{{Sfn|Pingree|1973|pp=2–3}}{{Sfn|Yukio Ohashi|1999|pp=719–721}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholas Campion|title=Astrology and Cosmology in the World's Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxSr1NT3BLoC|year=2012|publisher=[[New York University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8147-0842-2|pages=110–111}}</ref>

The word ''mela'' means "unite, join, meet, move together, assembly, junction" in Sanskrit, particularly in the context of fairs, and community celebrations. This word too is found in the ''Rigveda'' and other ancient Hindu texts.<ref name="Misra2019p1"/><ref>Monier Monier Williams (Updated 2006), Sanskrit English Dictionary with Etymology, [https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/webtc/servepdf.php?page=833 Mel, Melaka, Melana, Melā]</ref> Thus, Kumbh Mela means an "assembly, meet, union" around "water or nectar of immortality".<ref name="Misra2019p1"/>

===Historical origins===
[[File:Sagar Manthan.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|A pot (''kumbha'') containing ''Amrita'' was one of the products of the ''[[Samudra Manthana]]''.]]

Hindus believe that the Kumbh Mela originated in times immemorial and is attested in the Hindu Puranas about [[Samudra Manthana]] (''lit.'' churning of the ocean) found in the [[Puranas]]. Historians, in contrast, reject these claims as none of the ancient or medieval era texts that mention the Samudra Manthana legend ever link it to a "mela" or festival. According to Giorgio Bonazzoli, a scholar of Sanskrit Puranas, these are anachronistic explanations, an adaptation of early legends to a later practice by a "small circle of adherents" who have sought the roots of a highly popular pilgrimage and festival.<ref name="Misra2019p3">{{cite book |author=Nityananda Misra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcSGDwAAQBAJ |title=Kumbha: The Traditionally Modern Mela |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2019 |isbn=978-93-88414-12-8 |pages=3–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= Prayaga and Its Kumbha Mela| author= Giorgio Bonazzoli| year=1977| journal= Purana| volume=19| pages=84–85, context: 81–179}}</ref>

[[File:1674 CE Prayag Snana Vidhi, Puranas manuscript, Sanskrit, Devanagari sample i.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The first page of ''Prayag Snana Vidhi'' manuscript (Sanskrit, Devanagari script). It describes methods to complete a bathing pilgrimage at Prayag. The manuscript (1674 CE) has a [[Colophon (publishing)|colophon]], which states "Copied by Sarvottama, son of Vishvanatha Bhatta, Samvat 1752".<ref>[http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/sasia/skt-mss/psv/index.html Prayaagasnaanavidhi], Manuscript UP No. 140, Poleman No. 3324, University of Pennsylvania Sanskrit Archives</ref>]] 

[[Hindu mythology]] describes the creation of a "pot of [[amrita]] (nectar of immortality)" after the forces of good and evil churn the ocean of creation. The gods and demons fight over this pot, the "[[kumbha]]", of nectar in order to gain immortality. In a later day extension to the legend, the pot is spilt at four places, and that is the origin of the four Kumbha Melas. The story varies, with some stating Vishnu as [[Mohini]] avatar, others stating [[Dhanavantari]] or [[Garuda]] or [[Indra]] spilling the pot.<ref name=maclean2003>{{cite journal|title=Making the Colonial State Work for You: The Modern Beginnings of the Ancient Kumbh Mela in Allahabad | last=Maclean | first=Kama | journal=The Journal of Asian Studies| year=2003| volume=62| pages=873–905| number=3| doi=10.2307/3591863| jstor=3591863| s2cid=162404242 }}</ref> This "spilling" and associated Kumbh Mela story is not found in the earliest mentions of the original legend of Samudra Manthana (churning of the ocean) such as the Vedic era texts (pre-500 BCE),{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=88–89}}<ref name=collins36>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Charles Dillard|title=The Iconography and Ritual of Śiva at Elephanta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C&pg=PA36|year=1988|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-88706-773-0|page=36}}</ref> or the earliest of the ''[[Puranas]]'' (3rd to 10th-century CE).<ref name=maclean2003/>{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=88-89}}

While the ''Kumbha Mela'' phrase is not found in the ancient or medieval era texts, numerous chapters and verses in Hindu texts are found about a bathing festival, the sacred junction of rivers [[Ganga]], [[Yamuna]] and sacred [[Saraswati]] at Prayag, and pilgrimage to Prayag. These are in the form of ''Snana'' (bathe) ritual and in the form of ''Prayag Mahatmya'' (greatness of Prayag, historical tour guides in Sanskrit).<ref name="Glucklich2008p146">{{cite book|author=Ariel Glucklich|title=The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC&pg=PA146|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-971825-2|pages=146–147}}</ref>

==History==
The first Kumbh Mela event was organised in 1870, under British supervision.<ref name="i917" /><ref name="f162" /> Some observers have found similarities between Kumbh Mela and other events that took place in the earlier times.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=99}}

A mention of [[Prayaga]] and the bathing pilgrimage is found in ''[[Rigveda]] Pariśiṣṭa'' (supplement to the ''Rigveda'').{{sfn|Krishnaswamy|Ghosh|1935|pp=698–699, 702–703}} It is also mentioned in the Pali canons of [[Buddhism]], such as in section 1.7 of ''[[Majjhima Nikaya]]'', wherein the Buddha states that bathing in ''Payaga'' (Skt: Prayaga) cannot wash away cruel and evil deeds, rather the virtuous one should be pure in heart and fair in action.<ref>{{cite book|title= Teachings of The Buddha: Majjhima Nikaya |author1 = Bhikkhu Nanamoli (Tr)|author2 = Bhikkhu Bodhi(Tr)|year = 1995|isbn = 978-0-86171-072-0| url = https://archive.org/details/MajjhimaNikaya| page=[https://archive.org/details/MajjhimaNikaya/page/n483 121]| publisher=Simon and Schuster}}</ref> The ''Mahabharata'' mentions a bathing pilgrimage at Prayag as a means of ''prāyaścitta'' (atonement, penance) for past mistakes and guilt.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|pp=55–56}} In ''Tirthayatra Parva'', before the great war, the epic states "the one who observes firm [ethical] vows, having bathed at Prayaga during Magha, O best of the Bharatas, becomes spotless and reaches heaven."<ref>{{cite book|author=Diana L. Eck|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PyC4o7i9tnEC|year=2013|publisher=Three Rivers Press|isbn=978-0-385-53192-4|page=153}}</ref> In ''Anushasana Parva'', after the war, the epic elaborates this bathing pilgrimage as "geographical tirtha" that must be combined with ''Manasa-tirtha'' (tirtha of the heart) whereby one lives by values such as truth, charity, self-control, patience and others.<ref>Diane Eck (1981), India's "Tīrthas: "Crossings" in Sacred Geography, ''History of Religions'', Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 340–341 with footnote</ref>

There are other references to Prayaga and river-side festivals in ancient Indian texts, including at the places where present-day Kumbh Melas are held, but the exact age of the Kumbh Mela is uncertain. The 7th-century Buddhist Chinese traveller [[Xuanzang]] (Hiuen Tsang) mentions king Harsha and his capital of Prayag, which he states to be a sacred Hindu city with hundreds of "[[Deva (Hinduism)|deva]] temples" and two Buddhist institutions. He also mentions the Hindu bathing rituals at the junction of the rivers.<ref name="Glucklich2008p145">{{cite book|author=Ariel Glucklich|title=The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC&pg=PA146|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-971825-2|pages=145–146}}</ref> According to some scholars, this is the earliest surviving historical account of the Kumbh Mela, which took place in present-day Prayag in 644 CE.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Dilip Kumar Roy |author2=Indira Devi |title=Kumbha: India's ageless festival |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TtZKAAAAMAAJ |year=1955 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |page=xxii}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Mark Tully |title=No Full Stops in India |url=https://archive.org/details/nofullstopsinind00tull |url-access=registration |year=1992 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-192775-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nofullstopsinind00tull/page/127 127]–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Mark Juergensmeyer |author2=Wade Clark Roof |title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA677 |year=2011 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-6656-5 |pages=677–}}</ref>

Some traditions ascribe Kumbha Mela's origins to the 8th CE philosopher [[Adi Shankara|Shankara]] as a part of his efforts to start major Hindu gatherings for philosophical discussions and debates along with Hindu monasteries across the Indian subcontinent.

Kama MacLean, an [[Indologist]] who has published articles on the Kumbh Mela predominantly based on the colonial archives and English-language media,<ref>{{cite journal| author= Christian Lee Novetzke| url= https://muse.jhu.edu/article/381707 | title= Review of Pilgrimage and Power: The Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, 1765–1954|journal= Journal of Interdisciplinary History| volume= 41| number= 1| year= 2010| pages= 174–175}}</ref> states based on emails from other scholars and a more recent interpretation of the 7th-century Xuanzang memoir, the Prayag event happened every 5 years (and not 12 years), featured a Buddha statue, involved alms giving and it might have been a Buddhist festival.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Making the Colonial State Work for You: The Modern Beginnings of the Ancient Kumbh Mela in Allahabad| last=Maclean | first=Kama | journal=The Journal of Asian Studies| year=2003| volume=62| number=3| page=877| doi=10.2307/3591863| jstor=3591863|s2cid = 162404242}}</ref> In contrast, Ariel Glucklich – a scholar of Hinduism and Anthropology of Religion, the Xuanzang memoir includes, somewhat derisively, the reputation of Prayag as a place where people (Hindus) once committed superstitious devotional suicide to liberate their souls, and how a Brahmin of an earlier era successfully put an end to this practice. This and other details such as the names of temples and bathing pools suggest that Xuanzang presented Hindu practices at Prayag in the 7th century, from his Buddhist perspective and perhaps to "amuse his audience back in China", states Glucklich.<ref name="Glucklich2008p145"/>

Other early accounts of the significance of Prayag to Hinduism are found in the various versions of the ''Prayaga Mahatmya'', dated to the late 1st millennium CE. These Purana-genre Hindu texts describe it as a place "bustling with pilgrims, priests, vendors, beggars, guides" and local citizens busy along the confluence of the rivers (''Sangam'').<ref name="Glucklich2008p146"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Ludo Rocher|title=The Purāṇas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0-4RJh5FgoC&pg=PA71|year=1986|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-02522-5|pages=71–72 with footnotes}}</ref> These Sanskrit guide books of the medieval era India were updated over its editions, likely by priests and guides who had a mutual stake in the economic returns from the visiting pilgrims. One of the longest sections about Prayag rivers and their significance to Hindu pilgrimage is found in chapters 103–112 of the ''[[Matsya Purana]]''.<ref name="Glucklich2008p146"/>

=== Evolution of earlier melas to Kumbh Melas ===
{{Quote box
 |quote  = '''Exceedingly old pilgrimage'''<br/>
There is evidence enough to suggest that although the ''Magh Mela'' – or at least, the tradition of religious festival at the triveni [Prayag] – is exceedingly old, the ''Kumbh Mela'' at Allahabad is much more recent.
 |source = {{harvp|Maclean|2008|p=91}}
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Some observers have found similarities between Kumbh Mela and other events that took place in the earlier times.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=99}}

According to James Lochtefeld – a scholar of Indian religions, the phrase Kumbh Mela and historical data about it is missing in early Indian texts. However, states Lochtefeld, these historical texts "clearly reveal large, well-established bathing festivals" that were either annual or based on the twelve-year cycle of planet Jupiter.<ref name="Jacobsen2008p31"/> Manuscripts related to Hindu ascetics and warrior-monks – ''akharas'' fighting the Islamic Sultanates and Mughal Empire era – mention bathing pilgrimage and a large periodic assembly of Hindus at religious festivals associated with bathing, gift-giving, commerce and organisation.<ref name="Jacobsen2008p31">{{cite book|author=James Lochtefeld|editor=Knut A. Jacobsen|title=South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WT2odZ7_d7MC |year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-07459-4|pages=31–33}}</ref> An early account of the Haridwar Kumbh Mela was published by Captain Thomas Hardwicke in 1796 CE.<ref name="Jacobsen2008p31"/>

[[File:Devotees at Kumbha.JPG|thumb|upright|Hindu pilgrims heading to the Kumbh Mela site]]
According to [[James Mallinson (author)|James Mallinson]] – a scholar of Hindu yoga manuscripts and monastic institutions, bathing festivals at Prayag with large gatherings of pilgrims are attested since "at least the middle of the first millennium CE", while textual evidence exists for similar pilgrimage at other major sacred rivers since the medieval period.<ref name="Dwyer2016p150"/> Four of these morphed under the Kumbh Mela brand during the [[East India Company]] rule (British colonial era) when it sought to control the war-prone monks and the lucrative tax and trade revenues at these Hindu pilgrimage festivals.<ref name="Dwyer2016p150"/> Additionally, the priests sought the British administration to recognise the festival and protect their religious rights.<ref name="Dwyer2016p150"/>

The 16th-century ''[[Ramcharitmanas]]'' of Tulsidas mentions an annual ''Mela'' in Prayag, as does a Muslim historian's ''[[Ain-i-Akbari]]'' (c. 1590 CE).{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=90–91}} The latter [[Akbar]]-era Persian text calls Prayag (spells it ''Priyag'') the "king of shrines" for the Hindus, and mentions that it is considered particularly holy in the Hindu month of ''Magha''.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=90–91}} The late 16th-century ''[[Tabaqat-i-Akbari]]'' also records of an annual bathing festival at Prayag Sangam where "various classes of Hindus came from all sides of the country to bathe, in such numbers, that the jungles and plains [around it] were unable to hold them".{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=90–91}}

[[File:Ashoka pillar, Allahabad, c.1900.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[Allahabad pillar|Ashoka pillar]] (photo c. 1900) contains many inscriptions since the 3rd century BCE. Sometime about 1575 CE, [[Birbal]] of [[Akbar]]'s era added an inscription that mentions the "Magh mela at Prayag Tirth Raj".{{sfn|Krishnaswamy|Ghosh|1935|pp=698–699, 702–703}}<ref>{{cite book|title= Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum| volume= 1| year=1877| author= Alexander Cunningham|url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62072|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62072/page/n55 37]–39}}</ref>]]

The Kumbh Mela of Haridwar appears to be the original Kumbh Mela, since it is held according to the astrological sign "Kumbha" ([[Aquarius (astrology)|Aquarius]]), and because there are several references to a 12-year cycle for it. The later Mughal Empire era texts that contain the term "Kumbha Mela" in Haridwar's context include ''[[Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh]]'' (1695–1699 CE),{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=90–91}} and ''[[Chahar Gulshan]]'' (1759 CE).<ref name=sarkarkumbh/> The ''[[Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh]]'' also mentions an annual bathing pilgrimage festival in Prayag, but it does not call it Kumbh.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=90–91}} Both these Mughal era texts use the term "Kumbh Mela" to describe only Haridwar's fair, mentioning a similar fair held in Prayag and Nashik. The ''Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh'' lists the following melas: an annual mela and a Kumbh Mela every 12 years at Haridwar; a mela held at [[Trimbak]] when Jupiter enters Leo (that is, once in 12 years); and an annual mela held at [[Allahabad|Prayag (in modern Prayagraj)]] in [[Magha (month)|Magh]].<ref name="KAJ_2008"/><ref name=sarkarkumbh>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/indiaofaurangzib034937mbp|title=India of Aurangzib |author=Jadunath Sarkar |publisher=Kinnera |date=1901 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/indiaofaurangzib034937mbp/page/n279 27]–124 (Haridwar – page 124; Trimbak – page 51; Prayag – page 27) |author-link=Jadunath Sarkar }}</ref>

Like the Prayag mela, the bathing pilgrimage mela at [[Nashik|Nasik]] and [[Ujjain]] are of considerable antiquity. However, these were referred to as ''Singhasth mela'', and the phrase "Kumbh mela" is yet to be found in literature prior to the 19th century. The phrases such as "Maha Kumbh" and "Ardh Kumbh" in the context of the ancient religious pilgrimage festivals with different names at Prayag, Nasik and Ujjain are evidently of a more modern era.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=89}}

The Magh Mela of Prayag is probably the oldest among the four modern-day Kumbh Melas. It dates from the early centuries CE, given it has been mentioned in several early [[Purana]]s.<ref name="KAJ_2008"/> However, the name Kumbh for these more ancient bathing pilgrimages probably dates to the mid-19th century. D. P. Dubey states that none of the ancient Hindu texts call the Prayag fair a "Kumbh Mela". Kama Maclean states that the early British records do not mention the name "Kumbh Mela" or the 12-year cycle for the Prayag fair. The first British reference to the Kumbh Mela in Prayag occurs only in an 1868 report, which mentions the need for increased pilgrimage and sanitation controls at the "Coomb fair" to be held in January 1870. According to Maclean, the Prayagwal [[Brahmin]] priests of Prayag coopted the Kumbh legend and brand to the annual Prayag Magh Mela given the socio-political circumstances in the 19th century.<ref name=maclean2003/>

The Kumbh Mela at Ujjain began in the 18th century when the [[Maratha Confederacy|Maratha]] ruler [[Ranoji Shinde]] invited ascetics from Nashik to Ujjain for a local festival.<ref name="KAJ_2008">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WT2odZ7_d7MC&pg=PA32 |title=South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora |editor=Knut A. Jacobsen |chapter=The Kumbh Mela Festival Processions |author=James G. Lochtefeld |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |pages=32–41 |isbn=978-1-134-07459-4 }}</ref> Like the priests at Prayag, those at Nashik and Ujjain, competing with other places for a sacred status, may have adopted the Kumbh tradition for their pre-existing Magha melas.<ref name=maclean2003/>

===Akharas: Warrior monks, recruitment drive and logistics===
One of the key features of the Kumbh Mela has been the camps and processions of the ''sadhus'' (monks).<ref name=Lochtefeld30/> By the 18th century, many of these had organised into one of thirteen ''akharas'' (warrior ascetic bands, monastic militia), of which ten were related to Hinduism and three related to [[Sikhism]]. Seven have belonged to the [[Shaivism]] tradition, three to [[Vaishnavism]], two to [[Udasi]]s (founded by Guru Nanak's son) and one to [[Nirmala (sect)|Nirmala]]s.<ref name=Lochtefeld30>{{cite book|author=James Lochtefeld|editor=Knut A. Jacobsen|title=South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WT2odZ7_d7MC|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-07459-4|pages=29–33}}</ref> These soldier-monk traditions have been a well-established feature of the Indian society, and they are prominent feature of the Kumbh melas.<ref name=Lochtefeld30/>

[[File:Haridwar Kumbh Mela - 1850s.jpg|thumb|left|''Haridwar Kumbh Mela'' by the English painter [[J. M. W. Turner]]. Steel engraving, c. 1850s.]]
Until the [[Company rule in India|East India Company rule]], the Kumbh Melas (Magha Melas) were managed by these [[akhara]]s. They provided logistical arrangements, and policing, intervened and judged any disputes and collected taxes. They also have been a central attraction and a stop for mainstream Hindus who seek their ''darsana'' (meeting, view) as well as spiritual guidance and blessings.<ref name=Lochtefeld30/> The Kumbh Melas have been one of their recruitment and initiation venues, as well as the place to trade.<ref name="Dwyer2016p150"/><ref name="David_1996"/> These ''akharas'' have roots in the Hindu ''Naga'' (naked) monks tradition, who went to war without clothes.<ref name=Lochtefeld30/> These monastic groups traditionally credit the Kumbh mela to the 8th-century Hindu philosopher [[Adi Shankara]], as a part of his efforts to start monastic institutions (''[[matha]]''),<ref>Constance Jones and James D. Ryan (2006), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Infobase, p. 280, {{ISBN|978-0-8160-7564-5}}</ref> and major Hindu gatherings for philosophical discussions and debates.<ref name=britkumbh/> However, there is no historical literary evidence that he actually did start the Kumbh melas.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=89}}

During the 17th century, the ''akharas'' competed for ritual primacy, priority rights to who bathes first or at the most auspicious time, and prominence leading to violent conflicts.<ref name=Lochtefeld30/> The records from the [[East India Company]] rule era report of violence between the ''akharas'' and numerous deaths.<ref name="David_1996">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEUdPqYQjhoC&pg=PA156 |title=Contesting the Nation |editor=David Ludden |chapter=Soldier Monks and Militant Sadhus |author=William R. Pinch |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8122-1585-4 |pages=141–156 }}</ref><ref name=hun3/><ref name=hun4/> At the 1760 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, a clash broke out between [[Shaivite]] [[Gosains]] and [[Vaishnavite]] Bairagis (ascetics), resulting in hundreds of deaths. A [[Indian copper plate inscriptions|copper plate inscription]] of the [[Maratha Confederacy|Maratha]] [[Peshwa]] claims that 12,000 ascetics died in a clash between Shaivite ''sanyasi''s and Vaishnavite ''bairagi''s at the 1789 Nashik Kumbh Mela. The dispute started over the bathing order, which then indicated the status of the ''akhara''s.<ref name=hun3>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V1L99XsB1gkC&pg=PA252 |title=Gods Gateway: Identity and Meaning in a Hindu Pilgrimage Place |author=James Lochtefeld |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-974158-8 |pages=252–253 }}</ref> At the 1796 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, violence broke out between the Shaivites and the Udasis on logistics and camping rights.<ref name="Thomas_1801">{{cite book |author=Thomas Hardwicke |title=Narrative of a Journey to Sirinagur |url=https://archive.org/stream/cbarchive_100716_narrativeofajourneytosirinagur9999/narrativeofajourneytosirinagur9999#page/n9/mode/2up |year=1801 |pages=314–319 }}</ref><ref name=hun4>{{cite book |author=Hari Ram Gupta |title=History of the Sikhs: The Sikh commonwealth or Rise and fall of Sikh misls (Volume IV) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1wwAQAAIAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |isbn=978-81-215-0165-1 |page=175}}</ref>

The repetitive clashes, battle-ready nature of the warrior monks, and the lucrative tax and trading opportunities at Kumbh melas in the 18th century attracted the attention of the East India Company officials.<ref name="Dwyer2016p150"/> They intervened, laid out the camps, trading spaces, and established a bathing order for each akhara. After 1947, the state governments have taken over this role and provide the infrastructure for the Kumbh Mela in their respective states.<ref name="Dwyer2016p150"/>{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=57–58}} The first Kumbh Mela event under British supervision was organised in 1870.<ref name="i917">{{cite book |last=Black |first=G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5hpFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |title=On the Ganges: Encounters with Saints and Sinners Along India's Mythic River |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4668-6111-4 |page=148}}</ref><ref name="f162">{{cite web |date=17 December 2024 |title=अंग्रेजों ने आधिकारिक रूप से कराया था छह कुम्भ |url=https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/prayagraj/story-historical-significance-of-kumbh-mela-first-official-event-organized-by-british-in-1870-201734416069316.html |website=Hindustan |language=hi}}</ref>

The Kumbh Melas attract many loner ''sadhus'' (monks) who do not belong to any akharas. Of those who do belong to a group, the thirteen active akharas have been,{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=226–227}}
*7 Shaiva akharas:{{refn|group=note|They are also called Gosains.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=226}}}} Mahanirvani, Atal, Niranjani, Anand, Juna, Avahan, and Agni
*3 Vaishnava akharas:{{refn|group=note|They are also called Bairagis.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=226}}}} Nirvani, Digamb

== Significance and impact ==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 =  Anna Dāna, Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, Jan 2013.jpg
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| image2 =  Kumbh Mela 2019, India (33416052778).jpg
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| footer = Kumbh Melas feature many trade, fairs, charity, community singing, religious recitations, and entertainment spectacles. Left: Anna Dāna event at Prayag Kumbh, feeding monks and poor; Right: A dance performance.
}}
[[File:Kumbh Mela 2019 - Crowd Near Shastri Bridge - Prayagraj, India.jpg|thumb|Large crowds at the Ganga (Ganges) on a major bathing day in the 2019 Kumbh Mela]]
The Kumbh Melas of the past, albeit with different regional names, attracted large attendance and have been religiously significant to the Hindus for centuries. They have included initiation of followers to the ''akharas'', discourses of religious leaders, and religious music.<ref name=eckp154/><ref name=sox5264/> The 1834 Islamic encyclopaedia ''[[Yadgar-i-Bahaduri]]'' written in [[Lucknow]] described the Prayag festival and its sanctity to the Hindus.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=90–91}}<ref name=dubeyyadgir>{{cite book|title= Kumbh City Prayag| author=S.P. Dubey|url=https://archive.org/details/kumbhcityprayag00unse| pages= [https://archive.org/details/kumbhcityprayag00unse/page/72 72]–73| publisher= CCRT| year=2001}}</ref> It is also financially significant.

Officials of the [[East India Company]] saw the Hindu pilgrimage as a means to collect large sums of revenue through a "pilgrim tax" and taxes on the trade that occurred during the festival. The British officials raised the tax to amount greater than average monthly income and the attendance fell drastically.<ref name=dubeyyadgir/>{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=92–94}} The Prayagwal pandas resisted as the impact of the religious tax on the pilgrims became clear. According to colonial records, they had originally supported the tax; since the records of the Prayag Mela during this period were written by colonialists and missionaries, Macclean argues that they present a biased materialistic view. 

Baptist missionary John Chamberlain, who visited the 1824 Ardh Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, stated that a large number of visitors came there for trade. He also includes a 1814 letter from his missionary friend who distributed copies of the [[Gospel]] to the pilgrims and tried to convert some to Christianity.<ref name="John_1826">{{cite book |author1=John Chamberlain |author2=William Yates |title=Memoirs of Mr. John Chamberlain, late missionary in India |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsmrjohnch00yategoog |year=1826 |publisher=Baptist Mission Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsmrjohnch00yategoog/page/n357 346]–351}}</ref> According to an 1858 account of the [[Haridwar Kumbh Mela]] by the British civil servant [[Robert Montgomery Martin]], the visitors at the fair included people from a number of races and clime. Along with priests, soldiers, and religious mendicants, the fair had [[horse trading|horse traders]] from [[Bukhara]], [[Kabul]], [[Turkistan (city)|Turkistan]] as well as Arabs and Persians. The festival had roadside merchants of food grains, confectioners, clothes, toys and other items. Thousands of pilgrims in every form of transport as well as on foot marched to the pilgrimage site, dressed in colourful costumes, some without clothes, occasionally shouting "Mahadeo Bol" and "Bol, Bol" together. At night the river banks and camps illuminated with oil lamps, fireworks burst over the river, and innumerable floating lamps set by the pilgrims drifted downstream of the river. Several Hindu [[raja]]s, Sikh rulers and Muslim [[Nawab]]s visited the fair. Europeans watched the crowds and few Christian missionaries distributed their religious literature at the Hardwar Mela, wrote Martin.<ref name="RMM_1858">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/indianempirehist03martuoft#page/4/mode/2up |title=The Indian Empire |author=Robert Montgomery Martin |volume=3 |publisher=The London Printing and Publishing Company |year=1858 |pages=4–5 }}</ref>

[[File:Kumbh Mela 2019, India (46545287374).jpg|thumb|A cultural program pandal at Prayag Kumbh Mela (2019)]]
Prior to 1838, British officials collected taxes but provided no infrastructure or services to the pilgrims.<ref name=dubeyyadgir/>{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=92–94}} This changed particularly after 1857. According to Amna Khalid, the Kumbh Melas emerged as one of the social and political mobilisation venues and the colonial government became keen on monitoring these developments after the Indian rebellion of 1857. The government deployed police to gain this intelligence at the grassroots level of Kumbh Mela.<ref name="Biswa_2008"/> The British officials in co-operation with the native police also made attempts to improve the infrastructure, and movement of pilgrims to avoid a stampede, detect sickness, and the sanitary conditions at the Melas. Reports of cholera led the officials to cancel the pilgrimage, but the pilgrims went on "passive resistance" and stated they preferred to die rather than obey the official orders.<ref name="Biswa_2008">{{cite book |author= Amna Khalid| editor1=Biswamoy Patil |editor2=Mark Harrison |title=The Social History of Health and Medicine in Colonial India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ktHKWRR5xAC&pg=PT68 |year=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-04259-3 |pages=68–78 }}</ref><ref name="RD_time_trends">{{cite web |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/19328/7/07_chapter%203.pdf |title=Time Trends of Cholera in India: An Overview |author=R. Dasgupta |publisher=INFLIBNET |access-date=13 December 2015 }}</ref> [[Mark Twain]] also visited Kumbh Mela of [[Prayagraj]] in 1895 for which he wrote:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Twain |first=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/followingequator00twaiuoft/page/468/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Following the Equator |publisher=American Publishing Co |year=1897 |page=469}}</ref>

The positive impact of kumbh mela is this festival helps preserve cultural traditions and promotes the values of spirituality, unity, and devotion.<blockquote>It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining.</blockquote>

In 1938, [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|Lord Auckland]] abolished the pilgrim tax, after which the number of pilgrims increased.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=92–94}}

===1857 rebellion and the Independence movement===
According to the colonial archives, the Prayagwal community associated with the Kumbh Mela were one of those who seeded and perpetuated the resistance and 1857 rebellion against the colonial rule.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=74–77, 95–98}} Prayagwals objected to and campaigned against the colonial government-supported Christian missionaries and officials who treated them and the pilgrims as "ignorant co-religionists" and those who aggressively tried to convert the Hindu pilgrims to a Christian sect. During the 1857 rebellion, [[James George Smith Neill|Colonel Neill]] targeted the Kumbh Mela site and shelled the region where the Prayagwals lived, destroying it in what Maclean describes as a "notoriously brutal pacification of Allahabad".{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=74–77, 95–98}} In response, the Prayagwals targeted and destroyed the local mission press and churches. Once the British had regained control of the region, the Prayagwals were persecuted by colonial officials. Some were convicted and hanged, while others for whom the government did not have proof enough to convict were persecuted. Large tracts of Kumbh Mela lands near the Ganga-Yamuna confluence were confiscated and annexed into the government cantonment. In the years after 1857, the Prayagwals and the Kumbh Mela pilgrim crowds carried flags with images alluding to the rebellion and the racial persecution. The British media reported these pilgrim assemblies and protests at the later Kumbh Mela as strangely "hostile" and with "disbelief."{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=74–77, 95–98}}
The Kumbh Mela continued to play an important role in the independence movement through 1947, as a place where the native people and politicians periodically gathered in large numbers. In 1906, the Sanatan Dharm Sabha met at the Prayag Kumbh Mela and resolved to start the [[Banaras Hindu University]] in Madan Mohan Malaviya's leadership.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jagannath Prasad Misra|title=Madan Mohan Malaviya and the Indian Freedom Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eIM8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT40|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-908954-3|pages=40–41}}</ref> Kumbh Melas have also been one of the hubs for the [[Hindutva]] movement and politics. In 1964, the [[Vishva Hindu Parishad]] was founded at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=212–213}}

===Rising attendance and scale===
[[File:Kumbh Mela 2019, India (47281641211).jpg|thumb|Kumbh Mela – a dip in the waters is one of the key rituals]]
<!-- Insert the dates in chronological order. The only exception is the first sentence/para to show the scale of attendance and preparation of the "most recent and largest Kumbh" (Allahabad), keep updating this first sentence every 12 years with the most recent scale and move the outdated attendance numbers to the bottom. -->

The historical and modern estimates of attendance vary greatly between sources. For example, the colonial era ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'' reported that between 2 and 2.5 million pilgrims attended the Kumbh Mela in 1796 and 1808, then added these numbers may be exaggerations. Between 1892 and 1908, in an era of major famines, [[1899–1923 cholera pandemic|cholera]] and plague epidemics in British India, the pilgrimage dropped to between 300,000 and 400,000.<ref name=hun6>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V13_058.gif Haridwar] ''[[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]]'', 1909, v. 13, pp. 52–53</ref>

During [[World War II]], the colonial government banned the Kumbh Mela to conserve scarce supplies of fuel. The ban, coupled with false rumours that Japan planned to bomb and commit genocide at the Kumbh Mela site, led to sharply lower attendance at the 1942 Kumbh Mela than in prior decades when an estimated 2 to 4 million pilgrims gathered at each Kumbh mela.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=185–186}} After India's independence, the attendance rose sharply. On ''amavasya'' – one of the three key bathing dates, over 5&nbsp;million attended the 1954 Kumbh, about 10&nbsp;million attended the 1977 Kumbh while the 1989 Kumbh attracted about 15&nbsp;million.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=185–186}}

On 14 April 1998, 10 million pilgrims attended the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar on the busiest single day, according to the Himalayan Academy editors.<ref name=hun7>{{cite book |title=What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures into a Profound Global Faith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XC9bwMMPcwC&pg=PA242 |publisher=Himalayan Academy Publications |isbn=978-1-934145-27-2 |pages=242–243|year = 2007}}</ref> In 2001, IKONOS satellite images confirmed a very large human gathering,<ref>{{cite news |title=Kumbh Mela pictured from space |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1137833.stm |access-date=12 March 2021 |work=BBC |date=26 January 2001}}</ref><ref name=newscientist2001>{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |title=Kumbh Mela |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn360-kumbh-mela/ |access-date=12 March 2021 |work=New Scientist |date=25 January 2001}}</ref> with officials estimating 70 million people over the festival,<ref name=newscientist2001/> including more than 40&nbsp;million on the busiest single day according to BBC News.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21006259|title=India's Hindu Kumbh Mela festival begins in Allahabad |newspaper=BBC News|date=14 January 2013 |last1=Pandey |first1=Geeta |access-date=12 March 2021}}</ref> Another estimate states that about 30 million attended the 2001 Kumbh mela on the busiest ''mauni amavasya'' day alone.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=185–186}}

[[File:2019 Feb 04 - Kumbh Mela - Cooking.jpg|thumb|left|Cooking at Kumbh Mela in 2019]]
In 2007, as many as 70 million pilgrims attended the 45-day-long Ardha Kumbh Mela at [[Prayagraj]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/70-mn-to-take-holy-dip-during-ardh-kumbh/story-2MakAJhtmTxl4wbTpSfy5O.html | title=70 mn to take holy dip during Ardh Kumbh | agency=[[Associated Press]] | publisher=[[Hindustan Times]] | date=2 January 2007}}</ref> In 2013, 120 million pilgrims attended the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj.<ref name=devotees/> Nasik has registered maximum visitors to 75&nbsp;million.<ref name="Kama_Seeing"/>

Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj is the largest in the world, the attendance and scale of preparation of which keeps rising with each successive celebration. For the [[Prayagraj Kumbh 2019|2019 Ardh Kumbh at Prayagraj]], the preparations included the construction of a {{INRConvert|42000|m|currency_formatting=c|lk=on|year=2019}} temporary city over 2,500 hectares with 122,000 temporary toilets and range of accommodation from simple [[dormitory]] tents to [[Hotel rating#United Kingdom|5-star]] tents, 800 special trains by the [[Indian Railways]], [[artificially intelligent video surveillance]] and [[Video content analysis|analytics]] by [[IBM]], [[disease surveillance]], [[Water transport in India|river transport management]] by [[Inland Waterways Authority of India]], and an [[Application software|app]] to help the visitors.<ref name=scale1>[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/kumbh-mela-how-up-will-manage-one-of-the-worlds-biggest-religious-festival/articleshow/67177421.cms Kumbh Mela: How UP will manage one of the world's biggest religious festival], Economic Times, 21 December 2018.</ref>

The Kumbh Mela is "widely regarded as the world's largest religious gathering", states James Lochtefeld.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Lochtefeld |editor=Knut A. Jacobsen|title=South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WT2odZ7_d7MC |year=2008|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-07459-4|page=29}}</ref> According to Kama Maclean, the coordinators and attendees themselves state that a part of the glory of the Kumbh festival is in that "feeling of brotherhood and love" where millions peacefully gather on the river banks in harmony and a sense of shared heritage.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=43–44}}

In modern religious and psychological theory, the Kumbh Mela exemplifies [[Émile Durkheim]]'s concept of [[collective effervescence]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Collins |first=Randall |title=Interaction ritual chains and collective effervescence |date=30 January 2014 |work=Collective Emotions |pages=299–311 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199659180.003.0020 |isbn=978-0-19-965918-0 }}</ref> This phenomenon occurs when individuals gather in shared rituals, fostering a profound sense of unity and belonging.<ref>{{Citation |title=Collective Effervescence, Social Change, and Charisma: Durkheim, Weber, and 1989 |date=5 December 2016 |work=For Durkheim |pages=343–356 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315255163-28 |isbn=978-1-315-25516-3}}</ref> The collective energy generated during the Mela strengthens social bonds and elevates individual and communal consciousness, illustrating the power of such gatherings to create shared identity and purpose.

==Stampedes and scandals==
Several [[stampede]]s have occurred at the sites related to the Kumbh Melas. After an 1820 stampede at Haridwar killed 485 people, the Company government took extensive infrastructure projects, including the construction of new [[ghat]]s and road widening, to prevent further stampedes.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=61}} The various Kumbh melas, in the 19th- and 20th century witnessed sporadic stampedes, each tragedy leading to changes in how the flow of pilgrims to and from the river and ghats was managed.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=182–185, 193–195, 202–203}} In a major crowd crush, over 500 people died in the [[1954 Kumbh Mela stampede]], although the real figure varies according to different sources. In 1986, 50 people were killed in a stampede.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8619088.stm |title=Five die in stampede at Hindu bathing festival |date=14 April 2010 |publisher=BBC }}</ref>

The Prayag Kumbh Mela in 1885 became a source of scandal when a Muslim named Husain was appointed as the Kumbh Mela manager, and Indian newspaper reports stated that Husain had "organised a flotilla of festooned boats for the pleasure of European ladies and gentlemen, and entertained them with dancing girls, liquor and beef" as they watched the pilgrims bathing.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=132}}

The Kumbh Mela held in [[Haridwar]] in 2021 was considered a COVID-19 super spreader, contributing to increased cases in [[Uttarakhand]] and India, as the number of pilgrims visiting the area grew and numerous health guidelines were violated.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kanaujiya |first1=Ashok Kumar |last2=Tiwari |first2=Vineet |date=1 August 2024 |title=Health implications of mass gatherings: Kumbh Mela in India 2025 |url=https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/31/6/taae076/7685666 |journal=Journal of Travel Medicine |volume=31 |issue=6 |article-number=taae076 |doi=10.1093/jtm/taae076 |pmid=38818755 |issn=1708-8305|url-access=subscription }}</ref> As the second wave was increasing infections in India, calls to cancel the festival were rejected by the state and central government that assured the festival was clean and safe.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ellis-Petersen |first1=Hannah |last2=Hassan |first2=Aakash |date=30 May 2021 |title=Kumbh Mela: how a superspreader festival seeded Covid across India |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/30/kumbh-mela-how-a-superspreader-festival-seeded-covid-across-india |access-date=30 January 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In January 2025, at least 50 people died and 100 others were injured in [[2025 Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela crowd crush|the stampede]] at the Maha Kumbh venue in [[Prayagraj]], and Amrit Snan was temporarily suspended.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=28 January 2025 |title=Maha Kumbh stampede highlights: 30 dead, 60 injured in Prayagraj; judicial probe ordered |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maha-kumbh-mela-2025-stampede-in-prayagraj-on-mauni-amavasya-live-updates/article69153214.ece |access-date=30 January 2025 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> It was announced that a judicial enquiry by a three-member committee would be conducted, led by Justice Harsh Kumar.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |date=29 January 2025 |title=Mahakumbh Stampede highlights: Yogi announces judicial enquiry by 3-member committee, Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/mauni-amavasya-mahakumbh-second-amrit-snan-holy-dip-live-updates-online-at-triveni-sangam-prayagraj-naga-sadhus-latest-973552 |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=www.indiatvnews.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=30 January 2025 |title=Mahakumbh stampede: Yogi announces judicial probe, report in a month |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lucknow-news/mahakumbh-stampede-yogi-announces-judicial-probe-report-in-a-month-101738168587471.html |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=Hindustan Times}}</ref> Media investigations have suggested a higher number of fatalities and a potential coverup.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 January 2025 |title=Dozens killed in India's Kumbh festival stampede |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/casualties-feared-stampede-breaks-out-indias-maha-kumbh-festival-hindu-reports-2025-01-29/ |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=5 February 2025 |title=Exclusive: Hospital, police records suggest at least 79 deaths in Kumbh stampede |url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2025/02/05/exclusive-hospital-police-records-suggest-at-least-79-deaths-in-kumbh-stampe |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Newslaundry}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 February 2025 |title=Report suggests 79 pilgrims died in Kumbh Mela stampede, far exceeding official toll |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/kumbh-mela-stampede-death-toll-b2693367.html |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Independent}}</ref>

==Calendar, locations and preparation==

===Types===
The Kumbh Mela are classified as:
* The Purna ("full") Kumbh Melas, which are held every 12 years at a given site. 
* The Ardh ("half") Kumbh Mela held approximately every 6 years between the two Purna Kumbha Melas at Prayagraj and Haridwar.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=231}} 
For the 2019 [[Prayagraj Kumbh Mela]], the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister [[Yogi Adityanath]] announced that the Ardh Kumbh Mela (organised every 6 years) will simply be known as "Kumbh Mela", and the Kumbh Mela (organised every 12 years) will be known as "Maha Kumbh Mela" ("Great Kumbh Mela").<ref name="TheHindu-14Dec17">{{Cite news |title=U.P. Governor launches Kumbh 2019 logo |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/up-governor-launches-kumbh-2019-logo/article21617526.ece |work=The Hindu |agency=PTI |date=14 December 2017 |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> The term Maha Kumbh Mela has also been used to publicise certain kumbha melas that are said to have had astrological attributes that would not be repeated for another 144 years, including the ones in 1954, 1989, 2001,{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=315}} and [[Maha Kumbh 2025 Mela|2025]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nandan |first=Shyam |date=19 December 2024 |title=Mahakumbh 2025: 144 साल बाद प्रयागराज महाकुंभ में होंगे कुल 6 शाही स्नान, मिस हुआ तो कभी नहीं मिलेगा मौका! |url=https://hindi.news24online.com/religion/mahakumbh-2025-what-is-royal-bath-know-the-shahi-snan-dates-during-prayagraj-maha-kumbh-mela-naga-sadhus-bathing-in-kumbh-spiritual-news/997197/ |work=News24 Hindi |language=hi |access-date=3 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Maha Kumbh Mela 2025: How this event after 144 years is different from 3 other Kumbhs |last=Thakur |first=Anupriya |date=10 January 2025 |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/information/story/maha-kumbh-mela-2025-difference-four-types-of-kumbhs-prayagraj-sangam-shahi-snan-2660993-2025-01-07}}</ref>

=== Locations ===
{{anchor | Kalpvas | Kalpwas | Kalpvasi | Kalpwasi }}
[[File:Evening prayers at Har-Ki-Pairi Ghat in Haridwar.jpg|thumb|right|Kumbh Mela at Haridwar]]
[[File:Nashik during 1989 Kumbh Mela.jpg|thumb|right|[[Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha]] in the [[Godavari River]] in 1992]]
The fairs held at four sites are broadly recognised as the Kumbh Melas: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain.<ref>{{cite book |author=J. S. Mishra |title=Mahakumbh, the Greatest Show on Earth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pCXqynwwQcC&pg=PA17 |year=2004 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-0993-9 |page=17 }}</ref><ref name="JCR_2004">{{cite book |author1=J. C. Rodda |author2=Lucio Ubertini |author3=Symposium on the Basis of Civilization—Water Science? |title=The Basis of Civilization—water Science? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JI65-MygMm0C&pg=PA165 |year=2004 |publisher=International Association of Hydrological Science |isbn=978-1-901502-57-2 |pages=165–}}</ref> Priests at other places have also attempted to boost the status of their ''[[Tirtha and Kshetra|tirtha]]'' by adapting the Kumbh legends. The places whose festivals have been claimed as "Kumbh Mela" include [[Thirumakudalu Narasipura]] in [[Karnataka]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/02/07/stories/2004020709940300.htm |title=Kumbh Mela concludes at T. Narsipur |newspaper=The Hindu |date=7 February 2004 }}</ref> [[Varanasi]] and [[Vrindavan]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Kumbhakonam]] ([[Mahamaham]]) in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Rajim]] ([[Rajim Kumbh Mela]]) in [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Bansberia]] ([[Bansberia Kumbh Mela]]) in [[West Bengal]], [[Kurukshetra]]<ref name=merin6>G. S. Randhir, 2016, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BCyYDQAAQBAJ&dq=kurukshetra+kumbh&pg=PT46 Sikh Shrines in India].</ref> and [[Sonipat]] in [[Haryana]];<ref name=satk1>Madan Prasad Bezbaruah, Dr. Krishna Gopal, Phal S. Girota, 2003, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GAfgAAAAMAAJ&q=kurukshetra+kumbh Fairs and Festivals of India: Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh].</ref> and [[Panauti]] in [[Nepal]].<ref name="Gerard Toffin 2012 330 with footnote 18"/> In 2022, the [[Bansberia Kumbh Mela]] ([[Hooghly River|Hooghly]]) was claimed to have been organised after a 700-year old break.<ref name="HinduPost-22Feb22">{{Cite news |date=22 February 2022 |author=Katyayani |title=West Bengal: Return of Tribeni Kumbh Mela after 700 years; was discontinued after Islamic invasion of Bengal |url=https://hindupost.in/dharma-religion/tribeni-kumbh-mela-after-700-yrs-wb/ |access-date=16 December 2024 |newspaper=Hindu Post|language=en}}</ref><ref name="EconomicTimes-26Feb23">{{Cite news |date=26 February 2023 |title=Revival of age-old 'Tribeni Kumbho Mohotshav' in Bengal finds mention in PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat address |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/revival-of-age-old-tribeni-kumbho-mohotshav-in-bengal-finds-mention-in-pm-modis-mann-ki-baat-address/articleshow/98247927.cms?from=mdr |access-date=16 December 2024 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Singh |first=Shiv Sahay |date=8 June 2023 |title=Kumbh Mela at Tribeni: inventing tradition in West Bengal |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kumbh-mela-at-tribeni-inventing-tradition-in-west-bengal/article66947961.ece |access-date=16 December 2024 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Even [[Tibet]] has hosted a festival claimed to be a Kumbh Mela.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=102}}

=== Dates ===
Each site's celebration dates are calculated in advance according to a special combination of zodiacal positions of [[Bṛhaspati]] ([[Jupiter (astrology)|Jupiter]]), [[Surya]] (the [[Sun (astrology)|Sun]]) and [[Chandra]] (the [[Moon (astrology)|Moon]]). The relative years vary between the four sites, but the cycle repeats about every 12 years. Since Jupiter's orbit completes in 11.86 years, a calendar year adjustment appears in approximately 8 cycles. Therefore, approximately once a century, the Kumbh Mela returns to a site after 11 years.<ref name="Jacobsen2008p40">{{cite book|author=James Lochtefeld|editor=Knut A. Jacobsen|title=South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WT2odZ7_d7MC |year=2008|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-07459-4|pages=40 footnote 3}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Place
! River
! Zodiac<ref name="al_gov_astro_aspect">{{cite web|url=http://kumbhmelaallahabad.gov.in/english/astrological_aspect.html|title=Official Website of Kumbh Mela 2013 Allahabad Uttar Pradesh India|author=Mela Adhikari Kumbh Mela 2013|access-date=24 November 2015|archive-date=29 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029000716/http://kumbhmelaallahabad.gov.in/english/astrological_aspect.html}}</ref>
! Season, months
!First bathing date<ref name="Jacobsen2008p40"/>
!Second date<ref name="Jacobsen2008p40"/>
!Third date<ref name="Jacobsen2008p40"/>
|-
| [[Haridwar]]
| [[Ganges|Ganga]]
| Jupiter in Aquarius, Sun in Aries
| [[Vasanta (season)|Vasanta]], [[Chaitra]] (January–April)
| [[Maha Shivaratri]]
| Chaitra [[Amavasya]] (new moon)
| [[Mesha Sankranti]]
|-
| [[Prayagraj]]{{refn|group=note|The sangam site is known as Prayag, sometimes Tirtharaj (''lit.'' "king of pilgrimages")}}
| [[Ganges|Ganga]] and [[Yamuna]] junction
| Jupiter in Aries, Sun and Moon in Capricorn; ''or'' Jupiter in Taurus, Sun in Capricorn
| [[Shishira (season)|Shishira]], [[Magha (month)|Magha]] (January–February)
| [[Makara Sankranti]]
| Magha Amavasya (new moon)
| [[Vasanta Panchami]]
|-
| [[Nashik]]-[[Trimbak]]
| [[Godavari]]
| Jupiter and Sun in Leo; ''or'' Jupiter, Sun and Moon enters in Cancer on lunar conjunction
| [[Varsha (season)|Varsha]], [[Bhadrapada]] (August–September)
| Simha [[Sankranti]]
| Bhadrapada Amavasya (new moon)
| Devotthana [[Ekadashi]]
|-
| [[Ujjain]]
| [[Shipra]]
| Jupiter in Leo and Sun in Aries; or Jupiter, Sun, and Moon in Libra on Kartik Amavasya
| [[Grishma]], [[Vaishakha]] (April–May)
| [[Chaitra Purnima]] (full moon)
| Chaitra Amavasya (new moon)
| Vaishakha [[Purnima]] (full moon)
|}

=== Past and future years ===
Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj is celebrated approximately 3 years after Kumbh at Haridwar and 3 years before Kumbh at Nashik and Ujjain (both of which are celebrated in the same year or one year apart - with Ujjain Mela occurring after Nashik).<ref name="al_gov_astro_aspect"/>

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-expanded"
! Year
! [[Haridwar Kumbh Mela|Haridwar]]
! [[Prayagraj Kumbh Mela|Prayagraj]]
! [[Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha|Nashik-Trimbak]]
! [[Ujjain Simhastha|Ujjain]]
|-
|1974
|style="background-color: #eeeeff" | Kumbh Mela
|
|
|
|-
|1975
|
|
|
|
|-
|1976
|
|
|
|
|-
|1977
|
|style="background-color: #eeeeff" | Kumbh Mela
|
|
|-
|1978
|
|
|
|
|-
|1979
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1980
| Ardh Kumbh Mela
|
| style="background-color: #eeeeff"| Kumbh Mela
| style="background-color: #eeeeff"| Kumbh Mela
|-
| 1981
|
|
| 
| 
|-
| 1982
|
|
| 
| 
|-
| 1983
|
|
| 
| 
|-
| 1984
|
| Ardh Kumbh Mela
|
|
|-
| 1985
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1986
| style="background-color: #eeeeff" | Kumbh Mela
|
|
|
|-
| 1987
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1988
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1989
|
| style="background-color: #eeeeff" | Kumbh Mela
|
|
|-
| 1990
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1991
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1992
| Ardh Kumbh Mela
|
| style="background-color: #eeeeff"| Kumbh Mela
| style="background-color: #eeeeff"| Kumbh Mela
|-
| 1993
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1994
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1995
|
| Ardh Kumbh Mela
|
|
|-
| 1996
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1997
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1998
| style="background-color: #eeeeff" | Kumbh Mela
|
|
|
|-
| 1999
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2000
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2001
|
| style="background-color: #eeeeff" | [[2001 Prayag Kumbh Mela|Kumbh Mela]]
|
|
|-
| 2002
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2003
|
|
| style="background-color: #eeeeff"| Kumbh Mela
|
|-
| 2004
| Ardh Kumbh Mela
|
|
| style="background-color: #eeeeff"| Kumbh Mela
|-
| 2005
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2006
|
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===Festival management===
The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of pilgrims. Providing for a safe and pleasant temporary stay at the festival site is a complex and challenging task. The camping (santhas/akharas), food, water, sanitation, emergency health care, fire services, policing, disaster management preparations, and the movement of people require significant prior planning.<ref name="Baranwal2015"/> Further, assistance to those with special needs and lost family members through ''Bhule-Bhatke Kendra'' demands extensive onsite communication and coordination.<ref name="Baranwal2015">{{cite journal | last1=Baranwal | first1=Annu | last2=Anand | first2=Ankit | last3=Singh | first3=Ravikant | last4=Deka | first4=Mridul | last5=Paul | first5=Abhishek | last6=Borgohain | first6=Sunny | last7=Roy | first7=Nobhojit | title=Managing the Earth's Biggest Mass Gathering Event and WASH Conditions: Maha Kumbh Mela (India) | journal=PLOS Currents | publisher=Public Library of Science (PLoS) | year=2015 | volume=7 | doi=10.1371/currents.dis.e8b3053f40e774e7e3fdbe1bb50a130d| pmid=25932345 | pmc=4404264 | doi-access=free }}</ref> In the case of Prayag in particular, the festival site is predominantly submerged during the monsoon months. The festival management workers have only two and a half months to start and complete the construction of all temporary infrastructure necessary for the pilgrims, making the task even more challenging.<ref name="Baranwal2015"/>

In 2013, the Indian government authorities, in co-operation with ''seva'' volunteers, monks and Indian companies, set up 11 sectors with 55 camp clusters, providing round-the-clock first aid, ambulance, pharmacy, sector cleaning, sanitation, food and water distribution (setting up {{Convert|550|km}} of pipelines operated by 42 pumps), cooking fuel, and other services. According to Baranwal et al., their 13-day field study of the 2013 Kumbh Mela found that "the Mela committee and all other agencies involved in Mela management successfully supervised the event and made it convenient, efficient and safe,"<ref name="Baranwal2015"/> an assessment shared by the US-based [[Centers for Disease Control]] for the Nasik Kumbh mela.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/security/stories/india-staying-healthy.html India: Staying Healthy at "The Biggest Gathering on Earth"], CDC, Global Health Security, USA</ref>

In 2025, more than 13000 trains including 3000 special trains have allocated to accommodate large volume of passengers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 January 2025 |title=Maha Kumbh 2025: Special trains to connect all major cities; check list and routes here |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/travel/news/maha-kumbh-2025-special-trains-to-connect-all-major-cities-check-list-and-routes-here/articleshow/117231218.cms |access-date=8 March 2025 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> Yet the surge in devotees caused a full blown crisis across railway stations, especially in Bihar, where passengers who were trying to board the train caused extensive damages to trains.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |date=14 February 2025 |title=Off the rails: Maha Kumbh Mela chaos sparks train vandalism in Bihar |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/kumbh-mela-chaos-sparks-train-vandalism-in-state/articleshow/118215134.cms |access-date=8 March 2025 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> At Madhubani and Samastipur stations, devotees vandalised six air-conditioned coaches of the Jayanagar-New Delhi Swatantrata Senani Express.<ref name="auto"/>

== Rituals ==
=== Bathing and processions ===
[[File:Kumbh-Mela-1998.jpg|thumb|[[Naga sadhu]] at a Kumbh procession (1998)]]
[[File:Indian kumbh Festival.jpg|thumb|Water dip at the Kumbh festival]]
Bathing, or a dip in the river waters, with a prayer, is the central ritual of the Kumbh Melas for all pilgrims. Traditionally, on ''amavasya'' – the most cherished day for bathing – the Hindu pilgrims welcome and wait for the thirteen sadhu akharas to bathe first. This event – called ''shahi snan'' or ''rajyogi snan'' – is marked by a celebratory processional march, with banners, flags, elephants, horses and musicians along with the naked or scantily clad monks,{{refn|group=note|The right to be naga, or naked, is considered a sign of separation from the material world.<ref name="Kama_Seeing"/>}} some smeared with ''bhasma'' (ashes).{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=226–227}}<ref name=kumbh1/> These monastic institutions come from different parts of India, and have a particular emblem symbol and deity (Ganesha, Dattatreya, Hanuman, etc.).{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=226–227}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2010/jan/30/sadhus-astride-elephants-horses-at-maha-kumbh-165762.html|title=Sadhus astride elephants, horses at Maha Kumbh|work=The New Indian Express|date=30 January 2010|access-date=19 December 2018}}</ref> The largest contingent is the Juna akhara, traced to Adi Shankara, representing a diverse mix from the four of the largest Hindu monasteries in India with their headquarters at Sringeri, Dvarka, Jyotirmatha and Govardhana. The Mahanirbani and Niranjani are the other large contingents, and each akhara has their own lineage of saints and teachers. Large crowds gather in reverence and cheer for this procession of monks. Once these monks have taken the dip, the festival day opens for bathing by the pilgrims from far and near the site.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=226–227}}<ref name=kumbh1>[http://kumbh.gov.in/en/bathing-dates Special Bathing Dates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930101451/http://kumbh.gov.in/en/bathing-dates |date=30 September 2019 }}, Kumbh Mela Official, Government of India (2019)</ref><ref>
Nandita Sengupta (13 February 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130618063937/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-02-13/india/28140014_1_naga-sadhus-juna-akhara-holy-dip "Naga sadhus steal the show at Kumbh"], TNN</ref>

The bathing ritual by the pilgrims may be aided by a Prayagwal priest or maybe a simple dip that is private. When aided, the rituals may begin with ''mundan'' (shaving of head), prayers with offerings such as flowers, ''sindur'' (vermilion), milk or coconut, along with the recitation of hymns with ''shradha'' (prayers in the honour of one's ancestors).{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=228–229}} More elaborate ceremonies include a ''[[yajna]]'' (homa) led by a priest.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=228–229}} After these river-side rituals, the pilgrim then takes a dip in the water, stands up, prays for a short while, then exits the river waters. Many then proceed to visit old Hindu temples near the site.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=228–229}}

The motivations for the bathing ritual are several. The most significant is the belief that the ''tirtha'' (pilgrimage) to the Kumbh Mela sites and then bathing in these holy rivers has a [[salvation|salvific]] value, ''moksha'' – a means to liberation from the cycle of rebirths (''samsara'').<ref name="ColemanElsner1995p140">{{cite book|author1=Simon Coleman|author2=John Elsner|title=Pilgrimage: Past and Present in the World Religions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqPtMU0QZ8sC |year=1995|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-66766-2|pages=140–141}}</ref> The pilgrimage is also recommended in Hindu texts to those who have made mistakes or sinned, to repent for their errors and as a means of [[prāyaścitta]] (atonement, penance) for these mistakes.{{Sfn|Kane|1953|pp=55-56}}<ref name="OlivelleDavis2018">{{cite book|author1=Patrick Olivelle|author2=Donald Richard Davis|title=Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofU-DwAAQBAJ |year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-870260-3|pages=217, 339–347}}</ref> Pilgrimage and bathing in holy rivers with a motivation to do penance and as a means to self-purify has Vedic precedents and is discussed in the early ''dharma'' literature of Hinduism.<ref name="OlivelleDavis2018"/> For example, in the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'', the king Yudhisthira is described to be in a state full of sorrow and despair after participating in the violence of the great war that killed many. He goes to a saint, who advises him to go on a pilgrimage to Prayag and bathe in the river Ganges as a means of penance.<ref>{{cite book|author=Diana L. Eck|author-link=Diana L. Eck|title=India: A Sacred Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PyC4o7i9tnEC|year=2013|publisher=Three Rivers Press|isbn=978-0-385-53192-4|pages=146–147}}</ref>

=== Feasts, festivities and discussions ===
[[File:ROMALO RAM AND PARTY IN KUMBH 2019.jpg|thumb|left|A cultural event at a Kumbh Mela ''[[pandal]]'']]
Some pilgrims walk considerable distances and arrive barefoot, as a part of their religious tradition. Most pilgrims stay for a day or two, but some stay the entire month of ''Magh'' during the festival and live an austere life during the stay. They attend spiritual discourses, fast and pray over the month, and these Kumbh pilgrims are called ''kalpavasis''.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=229}}

The festival site is strictly vegetarian{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=229}}  by tradition, as violence against animals is considered unacceptable. Many pilgrims practice partial (one meal a day) or full ''vrata'' (day-long fasting), and some abstain from elaborate meals.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=228–229}}  These ritual practices are punctuated by celebratory feasts where the vast number of people sit in rows and share a community meal – ''mahaprasada'' – prepared by volunteers from charitable donations. By tradition, families and companies sponsor these ''anna dana'' (food charity) events, particularly for the monks and the poor pilgrims.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|pp=228–229}} The management has established multiple food stalls, offering delicacies from different states of India.<ref>{{cite news |title=Prayagraj: Food Hub At Kumbh To Offer Cuisines From Different Indian States |url=https://www.ndtv.com/food/prayagraj-food-hub-at-kumbh-to-offer-cuisines-from-different-indian-states-1977286 |access-date=21 June 2023 |work=NDTV |agency=ANI |date=14 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sengar |first1=Resham |title=5 special foods you can't miss at this Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/eating-out/5-special-foods-you-cant-miss-at-this-kumbh-mela-in-prayagraj/articleshow/67835079.cms |access-date=21 June 2023 |work=The Times of India |date=4 February 2019}}</ref>

Other activities at the mela include [[Pravachan|religious discussions]] (''[[pravachan]]''), [[Kirtan|devotional singing]] (''[[kirtan]]''), and religious assemblies where [[shastrartha|doctrines are debated and standardised]] (''[[shastrartha]]'').<ref name="Kama_Seeing"/> The festival grounds also feature a wide range of cultural spectacles over the month of celebrations. These include ''kalagram'' (venues of ''kala'', Indian arts), laser light shows, classical dance and musical performances from different parts of India, thematic gates reflecting the historic regional architectural diversity, boat rides, tourist walks to historic sites near the river, as well opportunities to visit the monastic camps to watch yoga adepts and spiritual discourses.<ref name=kumbh2>[http://kumbh.gov.in/en/attractions Attractions and Cultural Events of Kumbh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930101454/http://kumbh.gov.in/en/attractions |date=30 September 2019 }}, Kumbh Mela Official, Government of India (2019)</ref>

===Darshan===
[[File:Maha Kumbh 2013.jpg|thumb|A sadhu at Maha Kumbh, 2013]]
[[Darshan (Indian religions)|Darshan]], or the act of sacred viewing, holds immense significance at the Kumbh Mela. Pilgrims undertake this journey to experience the profound religious and cultural essence of the event. Two key groups central to the Kumbh Mela are the Sadhus (Hindu ascetics) and the pilgrims. Through their dedicated yogic practices, Sadhus embody the transient nature of life and play a vital role in connecting the spiritual and the mundane.

Sadhus attend the Kumbh Mela to engage with the broader Hindu community, offering the opportunity for devotees to partake in darshan. This interaction allows pilgrims to seek spiritual guidance and advice. Darshan emphasises a visual exchange—a divine connection where worshippers symbolically "drink" the deity's power through sight.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

The Kumbh Mela is structured into camps, facilitating access to Sadhus for Hindu worshippers. The darshan experience is integral to the Kumbh Mela, and worshippers approach it with great reverence, ensuring they do not inadvertently offend the religious sanctity of the moment. Interactions with Sadhus are highly respectful, with devotees often leaving offerings at their feet as tokens of devotion and gratitude.<ref name="Kama_Seeing"/>

== In culture ==
Kumbh Mela has been a theme for many documentaries, including ''Kings with Straw Mats'' (1998) directed by [[Ira Cohen]], ''Kumbh Mela: The Greatest Show on Earth'' (2001) directed by Graham Day,<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q123901447|title=Kumbh Mela: The Greatest Show on Earth}}</ref> ''[[Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela]]'' (2004) directed by [[Nick Day (film director)|Nick Day]] and produced by Maurizio Benazzo,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.melafilms.com/|title=Short Cut to Nirvana – A Documentary about the Kumbh Mela Spiritual Festival |publisher=Mela Films}}</ref> ''Kumbh Mela: Songs of the River'' (2004) by Nadeem Uddin,<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q123901443|title=Kumbh Mela: Songs of the River}}</ref> ''Invocation, Kumbh Mela'' (2008), ''Kumbh Mela 2013: Living with Mahatiagi'' (2013) by the Ukrainian Religious Studies Project Ahamot,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ahamot.org/en/kumbhmela2013-living-with-mahatiagi/|title=Kumbh Mela 2013 – living with mahatiagi|last=Агеєв|access-date=19 December 2018|archive-date=20 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230321/http://ahamot.org/en/kumbhmela2013-living-with-mahatiagi/}}</ref> and ''Kumbh Mela: Walking with the Nagas'' (2011), ''Amrit: Nectar of Immortality'' (2012) directed by Jonas Scheu and Philipp Eyer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amritfilm.net/?lang=en |title=Amrit:Nectar of Immortality |access-date=24 November 2015 }}</ref>

In 2007, [[National Geographic]] filmed and broadcast a documentary of the Prayag Kumbh Mela, named ''Inside Nirvana'', under the direction of Karina Holden with the scholar Kama Maclean as a consultant.{{sfn|Maclean|2008|p=229}} In 2013, National Geographic returned and filmed the documentary ''Inside the Mahakumbh''. Indian and foreign news media have covered the Kumbh Mela regularly. On 18 April 2010, a popular American morning show, ''[[CBS News Sunday Morning]]'', extensively covered Haridwar's Kumbh Mela, calling it "The Largest Pilgrimage on Earth". On 28 April 2010, the [[BBC]] released an audio and a video report on Kumbh Mela, titled "Kumbh Mela:  'greatest show on earth'.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Two - Kumbh Mela: The Greatest Show on Earth |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037w0xc |website=BBC}}</ref> On 30 September 2010, the Kumbh Mela featured in the second episode of the [[Sky One]] TV series ''[[An Idiot Abroad]]'' with [[Karl Pilkington]] visiting the festival.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

Young siblings getting separated at the Kumbh Mela was once a recurring theme in [[Hindi cinema|Hindi movies]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jan/15/why-twins-no-longer-get-separated-at-kumbh-mela.htm |title=Why twins no longer get separated at Kumbh Mela |date=15 January 2010 |work=rediff.com }}</ref> ''[[Amrita Kumbher Sandhane]]'', a 1982 [[Bengali language|Bengali]] feature film directed by [[Dilip Roy (actor)|Dilip Roy]], also documents the Kumbh Mela.

[[Ashish Avikunthak]]'s [[Bengali language|Bengali]]-language feature length fiction film ''Kalkimanthakatha'' (2015) was shot in the [[Allahabad Kumbh Mela|Prayag Kumbh Mela]] in 2013. In this film, two characters search for the tenth and final [[avatar]] of Lord [[Vishnu]] – [[Kalki]], in the lines of [[Samuel Beckett]]'s ''[[Waiting for Godot]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/eyes-wide-open-2/|title= Eyes Wide Open |date=29 July 2015|work= Indian Express}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/uncertified-film-screening-at-kolkata-gallery-miffs-cbfc/articleshow/57688357.cms|title= Uncertified film screening at Kolkata gallery miffs CBFC |date=17 March 2017|work= Times of India}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|India|Hinduism}}
* [[Barahakshetra]] – A semi-Kumbh Mela in [[Sunsari]] Nepal 
* [[Mahamaham]] – the Tamil Kumbh Mela 
* [[Pushkaram]] – the river festivals of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
* [[Pushkar Fair]] – the springtime fair in Rajasthan, includes the tradition of a dip in the Pushkar lake 
* [[List of largest gatherings in history]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
*{{cite book |last=Kane |first=P.&nbsp;V. |author-link=Pandurang Vaman Kane |year=1953 |title=History of Dharmaśāstra: Ancient and Medieval Religious and Civil Law in India |volume=4 |url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfDharmasastraancientAndMediaevalReligiousAndCivilLawV.4}}
* {{cite book | first=Kama |last=Maclean |title=Pilgrimage and Power: The Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, 1765–1954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MALacgnsroMC&pg=PA5 |date=28 August 2008 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-533894-2 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Krishnaswamy |first1=C.S. |last2=Ghosh |first2=Amalananda |author-link2=Amalananda Ghosh |date=October 1935 |title=A Note on the Allahabad Pillar of Aśoka |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=697–706 |jstor=25201233 }}
*{{cite journal | last=Pingree | first=David | s2cid=125228353 | title=The Mesopotamian Origin of Early Indian Mathematical Astronomy | journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy | publisher=SAGE | volume=4 | issue=1 | pages=1–12 | year=1973 | doi=10.1177/002182867300400102 | bibcode=1973JHA.....4....1P }}
*{{cite book|last=Pingree |first= David | title= Jyotihśāstra: Astral and Mathematical Literature| publisher= [[Otto Harrassowitz]]| year= 1981| isbn= 978-3-447-02165-4 }}
*{{cite book|author=Yukio Ohashi|editor=Johannes Andersen|title=Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 11B|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQYscrT0fgQC|year=1999|publisher=Springer Science|isbn=978-0-7923-5556-4}}
* Harvard University, South Asia Institute (2015) ''Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity'' New Delhi: Niyogi Books. {{ISBN|9789385285073}}
* Kumbh Mela and The Sadhus, (English, Paperback, Badri Narain and Kedar Narain) Pilgrims Publishings, India, {{ISBN|9788177698053}}, 8177698052
* Kumbh : Sarvjan – Sahbhagita ka Vishalatam Amritparva with 1 Disc (Hindi, Paperback, Ramanand) Pilgrims Publishings, India,{{ISBN|9788177696714}}, 8177696718

==External links==

<!-- Please review [[Wikipedia:External links]] before adding any additional links. -->
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818205720/http://kumbh.gov.in/ |title=Official website |date=dmy}}

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