Nashik Kumbh Mela

Kumbh Mela is held at Nashik every 12 years

Ramkund, Nashik

Ramkund, Nashik

Pilgrims taking ritual dips in Godavari river

Temporary ghat built for Kumbh Mela

Nashik, along with Haridwar, Ujjain and Prayagraj, is a venue for the Kumbh Mela held at an interval of 12 years in each city. According to Indian astrology, the Nashik Kumbh is held when both Jupiter and the Sun are positioned in the zodiac sign Leo, or Simha - hence it is also called Simhasta Kumbha. The only site where the Mela is hosted at two different locations - Nashik and the nearby town of Trimbakeshwar - the main attraction of the festival is the Godavari river, also called Dakshin Ganga (Ganga of the South) for its sacredness to Hindus. [1]

Considered the most important spiritual gathering for Hindus, and the largest religious congregation in the world, the Kumbh Mela was enlisted as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2017. [2] According to Hindu mythology, when Vishnu was transporting Amrit (the elixir of immortality) held in a pitcher or ‘kumbh,’ it spilled in Haridwar, Ujjain, Prayagraj and Nashik - the Melas commemorate the sacredness of these places. [3] People from every walk of life - from groups of mendicants to common citizens - gather to take part in these Melas.

The most important element in these Melas being the ritual dip in the river, Ramkund in Nashik and Kushavart Tirtha in Trimbakeshwar are the water bodies of focus at the Nashik Kumbh. [4] While Ramkund is venerated as the place where Rama used to take bath during his stay on the banks of the Godavari, Kushavart Tirtha is believed to be the place where the Godavari re-emerges after disappearing from plain sight in the hills of Bramhagiri. [5] [6] According to a Maratha inscription, in 1789 a feud between Shaivite and Vaishnavite ascetics over camping rights resulted in approximately 12,000 deaths. This led Peshwa Baji Rao II to assign Nashik city as the camping site for the Vaishnavites while the Shaivites continued to congregate in the original site of Trimbakeshwar. [7]

Held for almost three months with millions of devotees attending, the Kumbh Melas require careful crowd management by city administrations. The last Nashik Kumbh held in 2015 saw a footfall of over 10 million pilgrims. A budget of 2380 crore rupees was sanctioned by the state government to arrange infrastructure for lodging and boarding, public toilets, water supply and sewage, transportation and security. [8] Additional ghats were built to accommodate the devotees thronging for dips in the river. [9] Free community kitchens were set up at the Mela grounds. It generated around Rs 10,000 crore in revenue and created jobs for nearly half a million people. [10] The mass gathering also provides city planners an opportunity to study and analyse urban crises. One of the projects conducted by MIT at the 2015 Kumbh was the "Kumbhathon", which tried to identify ways to improve crowd and civic management of mass migration. [11] The next Kumbh Mela is slated to be held at Nashik in 2027.

The visual opulence of this mammoth gathering has also captured the imagination of many filmmakers. Sinhastha Mela (or Sinhastha Parvani), a film shot between July 1920 and August 1921 by Dadasaheb Phalke during the Mela of that year, is one of the rare historical documentaries that we have today to get a glimpse of this enduring cultural phenomenon.