Dates for Snan for 2010 (more dates will be posted later):
1) Samvat 2066 Phalgun Krishna Pakcha 14 (Chatrudashi) or ?? February 2010 the day of Mahashivaratri - Sanyasis/Sanyasins only;
2) Samvat 2066 Chaitra Krishna 30 (Amavashya) or ?? March 2010 - Sanyasis/Sanyasins and Yogis/Yoginis only from the Akharas; and
3) Samavat 2066 or Tuesday April 14, 2010,
when the Sun transits into Mesha (Mesha Samkranti) - Everyone.
Kumbha Mela (local fete) begins on MahaShivaratri ?? and ends on April 14.
Other auspicious dates for Snan in 2010:
1. ?? - Vasant Panchami;
2. ?? - Maghi Purnima;
3. ?? - New Smavatsar 2055 (Purnimanta);
4. ?? - Sri Ram Navami;
5. ?? - Vaisakhi Amvasya;
6. ?? - Akhchay Tritiya;
7. ?? - Vaisakhi Purnima and
8. Thursday 14 May - Sun enters Vrishava (Taurus) Rasi or Vrishava Samkranti.
1. Haridwar - Annual Kumbha Mela is held here. This is also called Gangadwar. It is in Uttar Pradesh. On the map it is 29 degrees 58 minutes North and 78 degrees 8 minutes East.
2. Prayag - near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. The confluence of three rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati. On the map it is 25 degrees 25 minutes North and 81 degrees 53 minutes East. The nearby city of Allahabad was established by the King Akbar, its name meaning where Allah or God lives. Akbar tried to create a new religion based on the teachings of Hindusim and Islam. He also had Persian scholars translate copies of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and gave each of his Administrators copies. A copy of the Persian illistrated Mahabharat is in the Vicoria and Albert Museum in London. A copy of the illustrated Ramayan in Pharsi is in the Freer Gallery of Asian Art in Washington.
3. Nasik - In Maharastra. It is about hundred miles North East of Bombay at 20 degrees North and 71 degrees East on the map.
4. Ujjaini - In Madhya Pradesh. This is also the centre of Hindu timekeeping or the equivalent of Greenwich near London. On tha map its location is 23 degrees 11 minutes North and 73 degrees 45 minutes East. According to Hindu Astronomical treatise the prime meridian or the zero longitude traverses through Ujjain. Hence all time such as the beginning of a Hindu Year, Samkranti (such as Makar Samkranti) and the beginning of a Yuga are decided by the sunrise at Ujjain.
Ujjanin was also an ancient seat of learning in India where scinece and the arts of the Vedas were taught in Gurukuls (house of Guru). Lord Krishna of Gokul (the house of cows), when he was a child, attended such a Gurukul along with his brother Balaram in ancient Ujjaini.
A Purna Kumbha (complete) is held every twelve years. The site for a Purna Kumbha rotates between the above four Kumbhas and is decided by Sadhus (ascetics).
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According to the story of Samudra Manthan in the Bhagwat Puran the Devatas and the Asuras (the ones who did not drink Sura) got together to churn the ocean and find the elixir of immortality called Amrita. They used the Mandar Parvat (located near the village of Banka near Bhagalpore in Bihar) as the churning wheel, the Shesha Naga as the rope and the whole thing supported on the back of the Kurma (Turtle) Avatar of Vishnu. The largest freize describing this story is found in the temple of Angkor Wat in present day Cambodia.
Many beautiful things came out of the ocean such as the elephant Iyravat (the river Irrawadi in Burma is named after it - actually it is called Iyravati meaning the daughter of Iyravat), the horse Ucchesrava, the Goddess Lakchmi and finally a man named Dhanvantari who carried the pot of Amrita (the one who is not mrita or dead) on his head and the book of Medicine called Auyrveda in his hand.
When they found the pot of Amrita (Kumbha), the Asuras quickly stole the pot and ran off. In their haste, they dropped four droplets of Amrita in four places which are called the Kumbha or the pot of the nectar. These four places are Haridwar, Prayagraj, Nasik and Ujjaini.
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