Kumbh Mela

Kumbh Mela, also called Kumbha Mela, is a Hindu religious festival and pilgrimage centred on gatherings and ritual bathing at sacred rivers. UNESCO describes the festival as rotating among Allahabad (now Prayagraj), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Encyclopaedia Britannica explains that each location's observance is associated with a distinct set of astronomical positions of the Sun, Moon and Jupiter. The rotation does not mean that every celebration has an identical schedule or form; dates and rituals are tied to the particular site and occasion.

A central practice is bathing or taking a dip in a sacred river. UNESCO records devotees' belief that bathing in the Ganges frees a person from sins and the cycle of birth and death. The event brings together ascetics, religious teachers, sadhus, pilgrims and visitors. Such beliefs are presented here as religious traditions and participant understandings, rather than claims of scientifically demonstrated effects.

Kumbh Mela is not only a pilgrimage but also a setting for religious teaching and social exchange. UNESCO notes that knowledge connected with the tradition is transmitted through religious manuscripts, oral traditions, historical travelogues and historical writing. It identifies teacher-student relationships among sadhus in ashrams and akharas as an especially important means of safeguarding related knowledge and skills. The gathering also brings together varied ritual and cultural practices across its different host cities.

Kumbh Mela's religious explanations include narratives about a sacred pitcher and the origins of pilgrimage places; such accounts belong to Hindu religious tradition. Its history should be distinguished from these sacred narratives, and evidence for the development of particular forms of the festival varies. UNESCO inscribed Kumbh Mela in 2017 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing its cultural knowledge, practices and role in community life.