Sacred site festivals in India, called melas, are a vital part of the pilgrimage tradition of Hinduism. This one is the biggest, and probably oldest, in the world. According to ancient Hindu myth, many moons ago the gods and demons had a tremendous fight about (amongst other things) the ownership of a pitcher, or 'kumbh', containing the nectar of immortality. Clever Vishnu managed to grab it, but in his haste to run away he managed to spill four drops of the holy nectar on India's surface: at Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. Nowadays, the victory of the gods is celebrated in monumental style at each of these four places, once in every 12 years (since one day in god life equals 12 years for you or I). Pilgrims make their journey to dip in the holy
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