Nasik Mela

The Nasik Mela is the celebration of the
Kumbha Mela at Nasik. The Kumbha
Mela is a religious festival celebrated in
four different locations: Haridwar,
Allahabad, Ujjain, and Nasik. The festival’s focus is bathing (snana) in the
sacred rivers during particularly holy
moments. The Kumbha Mela’s primary
participants are ascetics, who come
from all over southern Asia to bathe
in the sacred waters. According to
463
Nasik Mela
tradition, the Kumbha Mela was organized
by the great philosopher Shankaracharya
to promote regular gatherings of learned
and holy men, as a means to strengthen,
sustain, and spread the Hindu religion.
The timing for each of these festivals is
determined by the position of the sun
and the planet Jupiter; the twelve years
between these festivals correspond to
Jupiter’s orbit. The Nasik Mela is celebrated during the lunar month of
Shravan (July–August), when the planet
Jupiter is in the sign of Leo. This is the
least important of all four Kumbha
Melas, attended mostly by ascetics.