The four places of the Kumbh Mela

The pot of amrit, and what historians say

The story of the tradition is that the gods and the asuras fought over the pot of amrit that rose from the churning of the ocean, and drops from the pot fell at these four places. According to the Haridwar district administration the drops fell into the Brahmakund at Har ki Pauri and the pot was set down at Haridwar, Prayag, Ujjain and Nashik, which is why the Kumbh is held at these four; MP Tourism tells the story of the Simhastha in the same way. Who spilled the pot differs between tellings: Mohini, Dhanvantari, Garuda or Indra.

The churning of the ocean is told in the Puranas (see the Kurma avatar). But historians point out that the old tellings of the churning say nothing of the pot spilling at four places or of a mela; according to Wikipedia’s summary, Kama Maclean (2008) and Giorgio Bonazzoli see it as an old story attached to a later practice. The Magh Mela at Prayag is very old, but the name "Kumbh" first belongs to Haridwar’s twelve-yearly fair: the Mughal-era "Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh" (1695-99) gives a Kumbh at Haridwar every twelve years and a fair at Trimbak when Jupiter enters Leo. According to Maclean the first event at Prayag under the name "Kumbh Mela" was held in 1870.

Kumbh, Ardh Kumbh, Maha Kumbh and Simhastha

At each place the full Kumbh comes about every twelve years, because Jupiter takes about 11.86 years to go round the zodiac; so roughly once a century a Kumbh comes after only eleven years. Prayagraj and Haridwar also hold an Ardh (half) Kumbh in between, after six years. By a 2017 ordinance the Uttar Pradesh government renamed Prayagraj’s Ardh Kumbh the "Kumbh" and its Kumbh the "Maha Kumbh"; the 2025 Prayagraj mela was a Maha Kumbh in this sense.

The Kumbh of Ujjain and Nashik-Trimbakeshwar is held when Jupiter is in Leo, and so is called the "Simhastha" (MP Tourism; Nashik district). According to the Nashik district, the Shaiva and Udasin akharas bathe at the Kushavarta in Trimbakeshwar and the Vaishnava akharas at the Ramkund in Nashik.

The akharas and the Amrit Snan

On the main bathing days of a Kumbh the 13 akharas of the Akhara Parishad bathe in procession in a fixed order, a bath formerly called the "Shahi Snan" and since the 2025 Prayagraj Maha Kumbh the "Amrit Snan"; the naga sannyasis walk in front. The akharas, the order of bathing and the announced dates of the 2027 Simhastha and the Haridwar Ardh Kumbh are set out in full on the page of the 13 akharas.

Where the sources differ

• The planetary signs: Wikipedia’s table (citing the official website of the 2013 Prayag Kumbh) gives for Prayag "Jupiter in Aries, Sun and Moon in Capricorn" or "Jupiter in Taurus, Sun in Capricorn", for Nashik "Jupiter and Sun in Leo" or "Jupiter, Sun and Moon in Cancer", and for Ujjain "Jupiter in Leo, Sun in Aries" or "all three in Libra". For each place we give the sign its own government source states.
• Other "Kumbhs": fairs such as the Mahamaham at Kumbakonam, Kurukshetra, Vrindavan or Tribeni (Bansberia) are sometimes called Kumbhs too, but the four Kumbh places of the usual count are these.
• The coming dates rest on the governments’ announcements (Nashik: 1 June 2025; Haridwar: 28 November 2025 and 14 April 2026). Ujjain’s next Simhastha is in 2028 (Wikipedia’s table of years; news of the state’s preparations), but we found no notified bathing dates. Check the mela administration’s latest notice before travelling.

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