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Trivia: - The Kumbh Mela's periodicity of 12 years is based on Jupiter's period of revolution around the sun - It's called Kumbha mela, because Kumbha is the

by msravi 8y ago

Trivia: - The Kumbh Mela's periodicity of 12 years is based on Jupiter's period of revolution around the sun - It's called Kumbha mela, because Kumbha is the name for Aquarius. Jupiter spends an Earth year in each Zodiac, and the year in which it is in Aquarius is the year of the Kumbh in Haridwar - Apart from Haridwar, the Kumbh is also celebrated in Prayag (which is the festival this article is talking about), Ujjain, and Nasik. The years of these Kumbhs are offset from the one at Haridwar. In particular, the Kumbh at Prayag occurs when Jupiter is in Taurus (rather than Aquarius). So it should actually be called Vrishabha Mela... - The Kumbh that's happening in 2019 at Prayag is actually called an Ardh Kumbha Mela, or Half-Kumbh. It occurs half-way between two full Kumbhs, i.e., 6 years after (or before) a Full-Kumbh. - Prayag also hosts the Maha Kumbha mela, which occurs once in 12*12=144 years. The last Maha Kumbh happened in 2013. - The article erroneously mentions that Prayag is the meeting point of 3 rivers - the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the (mythical) Saraswati. This is incorrect. The Saraswati was not mythical - there is evidence for a Sub-Himalayan Saraswati-like river flowing into the Arabian Sea until 10000 years ago through the Rann of Kutch (see https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05745-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05745-8). Also, the Saraswati is not described as having a confluence with the Ganga/Yamuna at Prayag in the Rig Veda - this is a later legend which does not seem to have any basis.

deleted 8y ago
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jaldhar 8y ago
You are right that Kumbha is Aquarius but the kumbha in kumbha mela is from its’ primary meaning of pot. Specifically the pot of amrta (the nectar of immortality) that the Devas and Asuras got together to churn and then fought over. In the ensuing tussle, four drops fell at the various places on Earth where the kumbha mela is celebrated. The zodiacal sign is also associated with this story though probably both the Greeks and Indians got the zodiacal concept from the Babylonians and added their own interpretations afterwards. Your point about the Saraswati is a bit nit picky. Yes there was a real Saraswati (that dried up by the end of the Vedic age) but the mystical Saraswati that flows at Prayag is not related to that
- msravi 8y ago
  Yes, I'm aware of the pot-of-nectar legend - just didn't have the time to check primary sources for the origin of the legend, and did not want to put out something I was unsure of. If you have a primary reference for the origin of that legend, that would be helpful. As for the Saraswati, you are mistaken. The sangam (confluence) at Prayag being referred to as "Triveni" (three rivers) is a recent invention (1860 or thereabouts) and is first referred to in written literature in 1873. And it is the same Saraswati river. See https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Triveni/article14553336.ece https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Tri... To quote: "...the word Triveni was used for the first time in 1873 to convey the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati in the six-volume Sanskrit work Abhidhan Vachaspatya of Taranath Tarkvachaspati, who was associated with Government Sanskrit College, Calcutta (now Kolkata). Otherwise, according to its etymology, it meant triple-braided. Whether it is Valmiki or Kalidasa, no Sanskrit poet has used the word Triveni to denote the confluence of rivers at Prayag (Allahabad). Whenever they referred to it, it was always as a confluence of two rivers Ganga and Yamuna."
1024core 8y ago
> there is evidence for a Sub-Himalayan Saraswati-like river flowing into the Arabian Sea You do realize that Allahabad (or Prayag) is in the opposite direction to the Arabian Sea, don't you?
- msravi 8y ago
  Did you read what I wrote? > Also, the Saraswati is not described as having a confluence with the Ganga/Yamuna at Prayag in the Rig Veda - this is a later legend which does not seem to have any basis. See https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Triveni/article14553336.ece https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Tri... The article is wrong on two counts - (a) that the Saraswati is mythical, and (b) that Prayag is a confluence of 3 rivers - it is a confluence of 2 rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna.
ken 8y ago
> The Saraswati was not mythical - there is evidence According to the Wikipedia page, at least, it appears in folklore. It is literally mythical. That word doesn't (only) mean fictitious.

by msravi 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

jaldhar 8y ago

You are right that Kumbha is Aquarius but the kumbha in kumbha mela is from its’ primary meaning of pot. Specifically the pot of amrta (the nectar of immortality) that the Devas and Asuras got together to churn and then fought over. In the ensuing tussle, four drops fell at the various places on Earth where the kumbha mela is celebrated. The zodiacal sign is also associated with this story though probably both the Greeks and Indians got the zodiacal concept from the Babylonians and added their own interpretations afterwards. Your point about the Saraswati is a bit nit picky. Yes there was a real Saraswati (that dried up by the end of the Vedic age) but the mystical Saraswati that flows at Prayag is not related to that

msravi 8y ago
Yes, I'm aware of the pot-of-nectar legend - just didn't have the time to check primary sources for the origin of the legend, and did not want to put out something I was unsure of. If you have a primary reference for the origin of that legend, that would be helpful. As for the Saraswati, you are mistaken. The sangam (confluence) at Prayag being referred to as "Triveni" (three rivers) is a recent invention (1860 or thereabouts) and is first referred to in written literature in 1873. And it is the same Saraswati river. See https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Triveni/article14553336.ece https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Tri... To quote: "...the word Triveni was used for the first time in 1873 to convey the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati in the six-volume Sanskrit work Abhidhan Vachaspatya of Taranath Tarkvachaspati, who was associated with Government Sanskrit College, Calcutta (now Kolkata). Otherwise, according to its etymology, it meant triple-braided. Whether it is Valmiki or Kalidasa, no Sanskrit poet has used the word Triveni to denote the confluence of rivers at Prayag (Allahabad). Whenever they referred to it, it was always as a confluence of two rivers Ganga and Yamuna."

1024core 8y ago

> there is evidence for a Sub-Himalayan Saraswati-like river flowing into the Arabian Sea You do realize that Allahabad (or Prayag) is in the opposite direction to the Arabian Sea, don't you?

msravi 8y ago
Did you read what I wrote? > Also, the Saraswati is not described as having a confluence with the Ganga/Yamuna at Prayag in the Rig Veda - this is a later legend which does not seem to have any basis. See https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Triveni/article14553336.ece https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-story-of-Tri... The article is wrong on two counts - (a) that the Saraswati is mythical, and (b) that Prayag is a confluence of 3 rivers - it is a confluence of 2 rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna.

ken 8y ago

> The Saraswati was not mythical - there is evidence According to the Wikipedia page, at least, it appears in folklore. It is literally mythical. That word doesn't (only) mean fictitious.