Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh Mela ) :

Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus and people from all over the world gather together at a place to bathe in a sacred river. From ancient times, four fairs are widely recognised as the Kumbh Melas: the Haridwar Kumbh Mela, the Allahabad Kumbh Mela, the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha and the Ujjain Simhastha. These four fairs are held periodically at one of the four places by rotation. The main festival site is located on the banks of the river Ganga at Haridwar, Sarasvati at Allahabad; the Godavari at Nashik; and the Shipra at Ujjain. Bathing in these rivers is believed to clean people of all sins.

Ujjain Simhastha is a Hindu religious mela held every 12 years in the Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh, India. The name is also transliterated as Sinhastha or Singhastha. In Hindi, the fair is also called Simhasth or Sinhasth (due to schwa deletion). The name derives from the fact that it is held when the Jupiter is in Leo (Simha in Hindu astrology).

It is one of the four fairs traditionally recognized as Kumbha Melas, and is also known as Ujjain Kumbh Mela. According to Hindu mythology, Vishnu dropped drops of amrita (the drink of immortality) at four places, while transporting it in a kumbha (pot). These four places, including Ujjain, are identified as the present-day sites of the Kumbh Mela."Kumbh" in its literal English translation means "Pot", which emerged from "Samudra Manthan"(Churning of the Ocean) between Gods and Demons. The term ‘Mela‘ signifies’Fair‘.

The Simhastha at Ujjain is an adaptation of the Nashik-Trimbak Simhastha fair to a local festival of uncertain origin. In its current form, it began in the 18th century when the Maratha ruler Ranoji Shinde invited ascetics from Nashik to Ujjain's local festival. Both Ujjain and Nashik fairs adopted the Kumbha myth from the Haridwar Kumbh Mela. The Simhastha at Ujjayini pays special reverence to the temple of Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, which is the abode of Lord Shiva's Swayambhu lingam. A river-side festival, it is celebrated on the banks of Shipra river. The fair attracts millions of pilgrims.

History :

The Ujjain Simhastha started in the 18th century as an adaptation of the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha. The Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh (1695 CE) is the earliest extant text that mentions the term "Kumbh Mela". The book mentions Ujjain as a very sacred place in its description of the Malwa Subah. However, it does not mention any fair at Ujjain, although it mentions the melas at Haridwar (an annual mela and a Kumbh Mela every 12 years), Prayag (an annual mela in Magh) and Trimbak (a mela held every 12 years when Jupiter enters Leo). Like the fairs at Prayag (Allahabad) and Nashik, the Ujjain mela was not called a "Kumbh Mela" until the 19th century: that term was originally used only for the Haridwar fair.

Maratha era :

According to the Vikrama-Smrti-Grantha published by the Vikram University, the Ujjain Simhastha began when the Maratha ruler Ranoji Shinde (died 1745) invited akharas from Nashik to Ujjain for a local festival of uncertain origin. This explains why the Ujjain and the Nashik fairs occur within one year of each other, when Jupiter enters Leo. The Ujjain fair happens first if the Jupiter enters Leo before spring; the Nashik fair happens first if the Jupiter enters Leo between spring and late summer.

In 1789, after a clash between Shaivite sanyasis and Vaishnavite bairagis at Trimbak, the Maratha Peshwa ordered the two groups to bathe at separate places. The Peshwa also imposed this rule on the next Ujjain Simhastha: the sanyasis would bathe on the one side of the Shipra river, the bairagis on the other.

British era :

During the British rule, the Ujjain Simhastha was the only Kumbh Mela organized in a princely state. While Haridwar, Prayag and Trimbak-Nashik were part of the territories directly ruled by the British, Ujjain was part of the Gwalior State ruled by the Scindia (Shinde) dynasty. During this time, the Scindias financed half of the event's expenses.

At the 1826 fair in Ujjain, a sectarian conflict took place between the Saivite Gosains and the Vaishnavite Bairagis. The Gosains, who started the clash, were defeated.Their monasteries and temples were plundered by the Bairagis, who were assisted by the local Marathas.

The 2016 Ujjain Simhastha was organized between 22 April and 21 May. According to the state's Transport Minister Bhoopendra Singh, nearly 75 million people visited the fair during this one-month period.

Kumbh Mela Celebrations :

The festival of Kumbh is celebrated to strengthen one’s faith in the divine. People from all across the globe come to attend this unique festival. The celebrations of the festival involve a number of rituals, the main ritual being the holy dip. It is believed that taking a holy dip in the sacred waters on the day of new moon washes away all the sins and ends the cycle of rebirth. There are a number of activities other than the ritual of bathing, such as devotional singing, religious discussions and mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor. People from different parts of the country share their faith and be a part of religious assemblies, wherein they discuss and disseminate information about their religion. One can witness the true essence of ancient tradition with a visit to the Mela. The saffron colored clothes wrapped around the body of the Sadhus and Vibhuti (ashes) spread through the skin, talk much about ancient Indian culture.