KUMBHA MELA

The largest gathering of people for a religious purpose in the world"One of the holiest festivals of Hindus is Kumbh Mela." "KUMBH MELA (Devanagari:कुम्भमेला) IS A MASS HINDU PILGRIMAGE" The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 4 years, the Ardh (half) Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag, the Purna (complete) Kumbh takes place every twelve years, at four places (Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik). The Maha.(great) Kumbh Mela which comes after 12'Purna Kumbh Melas', or 144 years, is held at Allahabad. The last Ardh Kumbh Mela was held over a period of 45 days beginning in January 2007, more than 70 million Hindu pilgrims took part in the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Prayag, and on January 15, the most auspicious day of the festival of Makar Sankranti, more than 5 million participated. The previous Maha Kumbh Mela, held in 2001, was attended by around 60 million people, making it at the time the largest gathering anywhere in the world in recorded history.