Kumbh Mela

Kumbh Mela कुम्भ मेला
Pilgrims at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela in 2010
Status	active
Genre	Fair
Frequency	Every 12 years
Location(s)	Haridwar, Prayag (Allahabad), Nashik-Trimbak, and Ujjain
Country	India
Previous event	2016 (Ujjain Simhastha)
Next event	2022 (Haridwar Kumbh Mela)
Participants	Akharas, pilgrims and merchants

Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela (/ˌkʊm ˈmeɪlə/ or /ˌkʊm məˈlɑː/) is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred or holy river. Traditionally, four fairs are widely recognized as the Kumbh Melas: the Haridwar Kumbh Mela, the Allahabad Kumbh Mela, the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha, and Ujjain Simhastha. These four fairs are held periodically at one of the following places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayaga), Nashik district (Nashik and Trimbak), and Ujjain. The main festival site is located on the banks of a river: the Ganges (Ganga) at Haridwar; the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the invisible Sarasvati at Allahabad; the Godavari at Nashik; and the Shipra at Ujjain. Bathing in these rivers is thought to cleanse a person of all sins.