A city of many dimensions is what befits a description of Allahabad. In addition to being a major pilgrimage centre, the city has played an important part in the formation of modern India. Hindu mythology states that Lord Brahma, the creator god, chose a land for 'Prakrishta Yajna'. This land, at the confluence of three holy rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, blessed by gods, came to be known as 'Prayag' or 'Allahabad'. Foreseeing the sanctity of the place, Lord Brahma also called it as 'Tirth Raj' or 'King of all pilgrimage centres.' The Scriptures - Vedas and the great epics - Ramayana and Mahabharata, refer to this place as Prayag.
Allahabad also has an historic fort built by Akbar which overlooks the confluence of the rivers and contains an Ashoka pillar. The Nehru family home, Anand Bhawan, is in Allahabad City and is open for inspection. Allahabad is built on a very ancient site since it was known in Aryan times as Prayag and Brahma himself is said to have performed a sacrifice here. The Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang described visiting the Allahabad city in 643 AD and it acquired its present name in 1584, under Akbar. Later Allahabad was taken by the Marathas, sacked by the Pathans and finally ceded to the British in 1801 by the Nawab of Oudh. It was in Allahabad that the East India Company officially handed over control of India to the British Government in 1858, following the Mutiny.
A holy fair called Kumbh marks the place. These are of three types. The one that takes place every year is called 'Minor Kumbh'. Whereas the ones celebrated every 6 years and 12 years are called Ardh-Kumbh and Maha Kumbh respectively.
The Maha Kumbh that takes place every 12 years is the largest religious or for that matter, largest congregation of humankind on the earth. In the 1988 edition of Maha Kumbh, 15 million people took dip in a single day. Guinness Book holds the figure as a world record. During the Mela, whole of the city turns in to a camp of a sort. Separate camps are pitched on the bank of confluence for different sects of hermits who are always at war. There are as many as 13 different camps dedicated to various sub-sects of Vaishnavite and Shaivite sects. There are dedicated days for these dips that are calculated by astrologers. |
