On the day of holy dip date 9th of may 2016 I was at Ujjain taking a holy dip in Shipra river at Ujjain where one of the world’s largest festival is going on… the Simhasth kumbh mahaparv.
Kumbh maha Parva is celebrated every 12 years at the same location and every 3 years at different four locations Haridwar, Nashik, Allahabad and Ujjain.
I got a chance to visit simhasth kumbh mela (means fair)at Ujjain, where Hindus gathered to bath in sacred river shipra on the holy dip date. My date was 9th of may 2016.
It is believed that those who take royal bath in holy river shipra on simhastha kumbh mahaparv wash their sins of all previous births. I wish mine also washed out and ready to develop new ones.
The festival that i have attended comes once in a 12 year when the sun in zodiac sign aries and jupitar in zodiac sign leo.
It is very well known for naga sadhus who came out of their akhada only during the festival and the rest of the time they disappears from this material world and spend their life in caves or “akhada” which is a place for where they live together with their community.
I reach Ujjain at 12:30 am and even at that time the city is full of devotees. People walking in the streets of city and going to gau ghat, which is common and nearest ghat to take holy dip. At ram ghat naga sadhus and other holy saints take bath from 12 am to 2 pm and after 2 pm it gets open for common people.
Most of devotees get bath after 2am as it is said that after the bath of holy saints the water will get more sacred and it is considered best for bath.
However its very difficult for government to handle such a large congregation. But with the help of Indian army and homeguards soldiers they managed very amazingly.
From one of the lead officer in police i came to know that their headquarter is 12 km away from the mela site and the whole city and millions of people are managed by 3 to 4k of corps.
There are some other pandals of various hindu god and godess at different places.
You can found them at mela sites.
Or near the riverbank
Another place to visit in my itinerary was mahakal temple at Ujjain. One out of 12 jyotirlingams of lord shiva, and most famous temple in india.
I prayed there witnessed the bhasma aarti which is most difficult to attend as you have to stand in a queue since 1 am in the morning and if you are lucky you will able to see this.
However i managed to attend the “aarti” and it was breathtaking experience to witness the holiness of atmosphere.
One day is enough for Ujjain and especially for kumbh if you want to enjoy the festivel and take a holy dip in river.
I left from Ujjain at 6 pm one of the biker hiked me and helped me to reach indore from where i can get any connecting train or bus to ahmedabad.
After 14 hours of journey in bus i reach my home town in Jamnagar.
The next kumbh parva is going to held in Allahabad on the year 2019 and the date will be declared after calculation of celestial line up of planets.
Wanted to visit the next kumbh mela at Allahabad in 2019 with me… comment in my comment box and subscribe to my news letters and get about every updates of kumbh mela and my other adventurous journey and travel tips.
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