Magh Mela

Magh mela, also spelled Magha mela, is an annual festival with fairs held in the month of Magha (January/February) near river banks and sacred tanks near Hindu temples.About every twelve years, Magha melas coincide with what is believed by faithful as an astrologically auspicious position of Jupiter, sun and moon, and these are called the Kumbh Mela such as the one at Allahabad (officially, Prayagraj). In the south, a notable festival is at the Mahamaham tank in Kumbhakonam; in the east, at Sagar island of West Bengal and Konark, Puri.The Magha festival, along with the bathing rituals as a form of penance, is also observed by the Hindu community in Bali, Indonesia.

Certain dates such as the Amavasya and the Makar Sankranti are considered particularly sacred, attracting a larger gathering. The festival is marked by a ritual dip in the waters, but it is also a celebration of community commerce with fairs, education, religious discourses by saints, dāna and community meals for the monks and the poor, and entertainment spectacle.

The religious basis for the Magh Mela is the belief that pilgrimage is a means for prāyaścitta (atonement, penance) for past mistakes,the effort cleanses them of sins and that bathing in holy rivers at these festivals has a salvific value, moksha – a means to liberation from the cycle of rebirths (samsara).

According to Diane Eck – professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, these festivals are “great cultural fairs” which brings people together, tying them with a shared thread of religious devotion, with an attendant bustle of commerce, trade and secular entertainment.