Kumbha Mela Is the largest peaceful gathering where Hindu pilgrimage gather to bathe in sacred river. Kumbha mela is held in every third year at one of the four pilgrimage place, viz. Haridwar, Allahabad, Nashik, Ujjain by rotation. Kumbha mela is held in each four places after every twelfth year. It is held at river if Ganga at Haridwar, Sarswati at Allahabad, Godawari at Nashik, Shipra at Ujjain, and Kausiki at Chataradham.

The name Kumbha mela is derived from Hindi and Sanskrit. Kumbha means a pitcher and mela means fair. The pilgrimage is held for about one and half month at each of these four pilgrimage place where it is believed in Hindus that drops of nectar fell from the Kumbha carried by God after sea was churned. The estimate of the number of pilgrimage bathing on most suspicious day may vary approximately 80 million people attended on 14 February in 2013.

The next Kumbha mela is scheduled for July-September of 2015. There are 14 Akhadas of which 11 belongs to Shaiva sect. and 3 to the Vaishnav sect. The Shaiva akhadas take holy dip at Kushavant in Trambakeshwar about 30 km from Nashik. Vaishnav akhadas have Khalsas attached to them. Both Shaiva and Vaishnav sadhus used to take the holy dip in Trambakeshwar until 1838, but when a clash between them led to bloodshed and the Peshava ruler requested Shaiva sadhus to perform rituals at Trimbakeshwar and Vaishnav moved downstream at Ramkunda in Nashik.

Enhancing the internal streets and improving the water supply in Trimbakeshwar for the forthcoming Kumbh Mela have turned into a matter of top need for authorities included in arrangements for the occasion.

Balasaheb Waghchaure, sub-divisional officer, Trimbakeshwar and Igatpuri, said that separated from giving better streets and upgrading the water supply, development of a strong waste administration plant is likewise on the cards.

Work on the construction of internal roads had fallen behind, as the Trimbakeshwar Municipal Council neglected to pull in bidders thrice. The fourth offer was fruitful, and when the council could pass the tender procedure, the model code of conduct for the assembly elections came into power “Deal with the internal streets is presently being pushed through and offices chipping away at the same have been asked to guarantee that they go the additional mile to pass the work by the due date, March 2015, set for the completion of lasting works of the Kumbh Mela,” said Waghchaure.

The audit meeting of Kumbh works in Trimbakeshwar is booked for Wednesday. A week by week meeting will be held each Friday, Waghchaure said.

The officer said that work on giving clean drinking water to pilgrims during the Kumbh Mela, which is booked over the monsoons, has turned into a noteworthy test for the organization. Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran is building a filtration plant on the Nilgiri Parvat, to supply drinking water to the town; 50 percent of the work now stands complete. “MJP is developing the water filtration plant on the slopes and once done, the water will achieve the town through gravity. The water will be lifted from the Beze dam. The work is being done on a war balance,” the officer said.

On the waste treatment plant, the officer said that the greatest hitch was the establishment of the plant on government land at Kojuli, considering restriction by nearby villagers. “I went to Kojuli last Wednesday and we are as yet attempting to make the individuals mindful of the issue, the wellbeing viewpoint and the requests of the National Green Tribal (NGT). We hope to see some solution coming through at the earliest,” Waghchaure said. Posted by Mayur Mandlik