HOUSTON, TEXAS, February 21, 2019 (Houston Chronicle): Gopal Aggarwal recently returned home to Sugar Land from what is the largest faith gathering in the world — the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu pilgrimage held every three years in India. “Kumbh Mela is a wonderful, big festival of unity,” Aggarwal said. “I love it. It’s a wonderful blessing.” He and his wife, Uma, were among more than 120 million religious devotees who headed to Prayagraj during the 48-day festival to participate in the sacred ritual of bathing in the Ganges River. Aggarwal recalled with wonder how a temporary city basically sprung up inside of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad. Mystics and devotees alike chanted Vedic mantras, prayed and shared blessings, music and meals.
Gopal Aggarwal has been attending the event since 1989 in one of the four alternating cities where festivities are held, all located on the banks of a river — Haridwar on the Ganges, Ujjain on the Shipra, Nashik on the Godavari or Prayagraj at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati. Kumbh Mela is held once in each city on rotation every 12 years. The destinations of the pilgrimages are based on astrological positions, as well as spiritual tradition. The 2019 bathing dates began on Jan. 15 and will continue through March 4. Sarath Menon-Chembottil, professor at the University of Houston, specializing in the sociology of religion and the cultural, economic and social consequences of globalization in India, said that being immersed in the water rids individuals of impurities.
More at “source”.