KUMBHA MELĀ. The Kumbha Melā is a Hindu pilgrimage fair that occurs four times every twelve years, once in each of four locations in North India: at Haridvār, where the Ganges River enters the plains from the Himalayas; at Prayāg, near Allahabad, at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamunā, and "invisible" Sarasvatī rivers; at Ujjain, in Madhya Pradesh, on the banks of the Kṣiprā River; and at Nāsik, in Maharashtra, on the Godavari River. Each twelve-year cycle includes the Mahā ("great") Kumbha Melā at Prayāg, which is the largest pilgrimage gathering in the world. These melās ("fairs"), also known as Kumbha Yoga or Kumbha Parva, occur during the conjunctions (Skt., yoga, parva) of celestial beings who performed important acts in the myth that forms the basis of the observance. In one version of the story, the gods and...