The biggest congregation of renouncers and devotees on earth. The amalgamation of knowledge and spirituality. This is Kumbh. Kumbh means pitcher. A pitcher full of eternal love to be spread across humanity. This is how I perceive Kumbh.
As per Hindu mythology, ocean churning (Samudra Manthan) happened between Gods and Demons to find the nectar of immortality (Amrit). Nectar was needed to regain the lost strength of Gods due to a curse on them. But as soon as the pot of nectar (Amrit Kalash) was found after ocean churning, fight ensued between Gods and Demons to grab the nectar. Battle went on for twelve days and twelve nights (considered as twelve years for humans). During that battle Lord Vishnu flew away to heaven with the pot of nectar. Few drops of nectar spilled on earth. So Kumbh is held at four places where nectar drops fell. Those four sacred spots for Kumbh are Haridwar, Prayag, Nasik and Ujjain.
Kumbh is held every 12 years. Astrological calculations for Kumbh are related to star alignments of Sun, Moon and Jupiter. Hereby, Sun denotes soul, Moon is mind and Jupiter denotes teacher. Teacher (Guru) is considered supreme in Hindu mythology. As Jupiter completes its zodiac cycle in 12 years so Kumbh is celebrated after twelve years at one of the four sacred places. Date of Kumbh to any of these places depends upon the Zodiac sign.
Kumbh is held at Haridwar when Jupiter enters in zodiac sign Aquarius, Sun and Moon are in Aries.
Kumbh is held at Prayag when Jupiter enters zodiac sign Taurus, Sun and Moon are in Capricorn.
Kumbh is held at Nasik when Jupiter enters zodiac sign Leo, Sun and Moon are in Cancer.
Kumbh is held at Ujjain when Jupiter enters zodiac sign Leo, Sun and Moon are in Aries.
As Jupiter is now in Leo (Simha) so we have now Kumbh at Trimbakeshwar, Nasik, between July 14 to Sep 25, 2015, at the banks of holy river Godavari. Nasik Kumbh is religiously called as Simhastha Kumbh Mela.
For devout Hindus Nasik Kumbh signifies supreme religions faith. For me Nasik Kumbh means spiritual faith. Nasik Kumbh where nature, culture, knowledge and religion all have merged into a common faith. Faith of humanity. Faith of spirituality. Truly the ocean of faith.
And, I am on my journey to Nasik Kumbh to immerse myself in spiritual faith.
My Kumbh journey continues….
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