Hindu Mythology

Lesson 4: Vishnu

The Churning of the Ocean and the Kumbh Fair

The Kumbh Festivals showcase one of the largest gatherings of humanity. The world media now brings this amazing spectacle into homes throughout the world. This gathering is without advertisement and without invitation. This unique event blends religious and social features of Indian society. There are religious rituals, discourses, prayers and chanting of hymns throughout the festival. Bathing in the rivers is considered very auspicious. The earliest recorded Kumbh was in the seventh century and it has continued unbroken at least since then.

The origin of the Kumbh fair is deeply rooted in Hindu mythology. The legend is as follows.

Once upon a time sage Durvasa visited Amravati, the capital of Indra, and offered a garland of 'never wilting flowers'. Indra took it in a casual way and passed the garland to Airawat (his divine elephant) who in turn crushed the garland under its feet. Angered at Indra's arrogance, Sage Durvasa pronounced a curse on him, that he will lose all his wealth and power. The Demon king Bali used this opportunity to attack Indra and claim the kingdom of heaven. Vishnu advised Indra that to regain his lost powers and splendour he needed ambrosia or Amrita (divine nectar), which bestows immortality to one who drinks it. However he cautioned that the demi-Gods alone would not be able to accomplish this task. To extract this from the depths of the ocean, the Demons were motivated to churn the ocean along with the demi-Gods (each thought they would outwit the other and keep the nectar for themselves). Together they churned the ocean to bring up the nectar. As a result of the churning the first item that came out of the oceans was poison. Shiva took the poison and placed it in his throat. The poison turned his throat blue. Later many legendary offerings came out from the ocean finally followed by the Amrita. As Dhanwantari, the divine healer, appeared with the "Kumbh" (pitcher) containing nectar in his palms, a great fight ensued between the demi-Gods and Demons to gain possession of the pitcher. During the fierce battle in the sky, a few drops of nectar fell in four different places: Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain. According to another version Vishnu handed over the Kumbh to Garuda, his winged mascot. Garuda, who was to take the pitcher of nectar safely, was stopped on way at four places by the demons. These places are the present-day Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik, where Garuda had to put the pitcher down. Some of the nectar spilled at these places, sanctifying them forever. At each of the four places the Kumbh festival is celebrated every twelve years. It rotates from one place to the next every three years, returning to the same city after twelve years. The twelve-year period coincides with one round of Jupiter through the zodiac.

All along the flight, Brihaspati (Jupiter), then transiting through Aquarius, Taurus and Leo constellations guided Garuda. Sun and Saturn along with the Moon were on the vanguard in protecting the Kumbh. The exact alignment of planets described above takes place every 144 years and on that occasion the festival that takes place at Allahabad is known as the "Great Kumbh".

Optional Exercises

2a. Browse through the following sites. The photographs will give you some idea of the magnitude of human activity that takes place at the Kumbh fair.

http://www.kmp2001.com/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_a... http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/dbro... http://courses.smsu.edu/jel807f/kumbhmel...

2b. What does this legend and fair convey about Hindu society through the ages?

2c. Read about this episode in ‘Hindu Myths’ on page 273.

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