Where Lord Shiva and Goddess Ganga’s Myth meets Celebrations—Maha Kumbh of India to Get over 400 million Visitors

Occasion for the most holy bath that comes once in 12 years, known as Maha Kumbh, has begun at Prayagraj in India on Monday (January 23, 2025), with over 15 million people taking the holy dip by the end of the day. Tomorrow (January 24) is the holiest day called Makar Sankranti, the festival that marks the Sun's entry into Capricorn and the start of its northward journey. A huge number of people are expected to take the holy dip at Prayagraj, the confluence of Holy Rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mystical Saraswati.

The Mythology:

India is a country of Lord Shiva, the Lord of Destruction. According to Hinduism, Lord Shiva is believed to be the greatest destroyer who will annihilate the universe in the end of time. But destruction is not the end, it is the beginning of another cycle. So, a destruction is always followed with a new beginning. A child is born, he becomes man and when the end comes, he dies; but with this death begins a new life.

The four cities—Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik are places associated with Lord Shiva. The reigning deity of these holy cities—called tirtha (sacred place) is Lord Shiva. The city of Prayagraj, in Uttar Pradesh where Ram Temple has been built and inaugurated amidst lots of controversy, is the place where the Ganga meets the Yamuna (or Yami, who is the daughter of Surya, the Sun god) and the mystic Saraswati. Thus, it is the meeting point of three goddesses—these rivers are believed to be goddess who came down on earth from Swarga Lok (the heavens).

River Ganga

Ganga is the Holiest of rivers in India, as believed by the Hindus, and the most prominent in the confluence of the three rivers, at Prayagraj where Maha Kumbha is being celebrated after 12 years this year in 2025. According to Hindu mythology, Bhagiratha, a is a legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty as per Hindu literature, commenced himself to years of penance to bring Goddess Ganga in the form of a holy river, River Ganga from heaven, who could cleanse him and his clan from deadly curse by sage Kapila. King Sagara, the great grandfather of Bhagiratha once performed the Ashvamedha (horse) sacrifice (where a horse is sacrificed), but the sacrificial horse got stolen by none other than Indra, the king of heaven. Indra got the horse sent to the Patala (the Netherworld) where sage Kapila was in a deep meditation over a penance.  The 60,000 sons of king Sagara upon finding the horse in the Netherworld, made noise so much that the sage got badly disturbed. He turned them into ashes with a curse. The funeral rites of the dead could not be performed in generations, and when Bhagirath ascended the throne in Ayodhya, the duty fell upon him. He did a tapasya (meditation) prying to goddess Ganga to come from the heaven and cleanse the wrongs of his ancestors. But if goddess Ganga just flew down from heaven, her force of flow just could not have been contained by the earth. This is when Lord Shiva agrees to channelize the flow of goddess Ganga on earth passing it through his jata (the long matted hair)—and a drop of the waters in the matted hair of Lord Shiva, takes the form of the Holy River Ganga. Passing through Patala onto the earth, it cleanses the sins of the 60,000 ancestors of king Bhagiratha and their funeral rites are thus completed.

While Lord Shiva is the central figure in Maha Kumbh, at Prayagraj, Lord Shiva is joined by Ganga River and other two rivers to enhance the holiness of the celebrations.

Maha Kumbh mela comes once in 12 years

Maha Kumbh mela comes once in 12 years, called Poorna Kumbha, and is celebrated in four holy locations of India: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik on rotation. This year, it is Prayagraj, where the Ganga meets the Yamuna and the mystical river Saraswati, is hosting the holy gathering that will continue to 45 days.

Ganga as the central point

Goddess Ganga, who is also Hoy River Ganga, is associated with myths of the king Shantanu of Kuru dynasty who ruled over a kingdom with Hastinapur as the capital. Once king Shantanu was on a hunting expedition when he saw a beautiful woman. River Ganga had taken the form of a woman. King Shantanu fell in love with her and married, but due to some issue, could not take her along when he went back to Hastinapur. Later, the myth evolves into Mahabharata story, on which an epic was written by the sage Vyasa. 

Bollywood Blockbuster of Raj Kapoor

Bollywood Blockbuster of legendary Indian cinema personality Raj Kapoor ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maily’was based on the theme of king Shantanu. The hero of the film falls in love with a Himalayan—Himalaya is symbolically, the matted hair of Lord Shiva—girl Ganga. In pleasure, Ganga bores him a son, but the two go through lots of pain; and finally, reunion takes place.

River Ganga Flows through all Three Worlds

The River Ganga is the only river, according to Hindu mythology, to flow through all the three worlds. Thus, it can finally lead a man to Heaven and free him from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Lord Shiva being the Lord of destruction and also causation of a new beginning, Maha Kumbh festival is a commemoration of this belief in Hinduism.

Naga Sadhus

Naga Sadhus and sadhus (sages) with matted hair, smoking hukka and performing religious and spiritual acts, are common sites at the festivals. The festival is a celebration of birth, death and rebirth—and eventual moksha  from the cycle of rebirth with the grace of Lord Shiva, the reigning deity of the Maha Kumbh. 

A Study Destination for Scholars

This Maha Kumbh mela, scholars from many top universities of the world have arrived to study the management, economy and other aspects of festival at Prayagraj city of India. The universities include Standford, London School of Economics, Harvard, Kyoto University, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and a few others. Supposedly, this is the largest gathering of humans on earth to celebrate a religious festival, observed by the Hindus. During the course of the 45 days, a total of about 400 million people from India and abroad, are expected to take part in the Maha Kumbh festival.

Steve Jobs’s wife Laurene Powell Jobs

Steve Jobs’s wife Laurene Powell Jobs too has arrived at the Maha Kumbh along with a 40-member team, to take a holy dip in River Ganga.