Allahabad literally means "Allah's City". The city is located at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
- The city was given the name Allahabad by the Moghul emperor Akbar, who constructed a fort there in 1583 to demonstrate Moghul dominance over the area.
- The confluence of the rivers is traditionally regarded a holy bathing (snana) spot, and the city was given the name Prayaga (“place of sacrifice”) by the Hindus.
- The holy place (tirtha) is still known by this term to differentiate it from the city that surrounds it.
- Triveni (“triple stream”) is another name for the confluence, which refers to the ancient belief that the two visible rivers are joined at the confluence by a third subterranean river, the Saraswati.
- A banyan tree considered to be the akshaya vata (“indestructible banyan tree”) grows near the bathing site, although it is now relatively tiny despite its strong moniker.
Prayaga is regarded particularly holy, as are all sites where the Ganges undergoes a natural transition—here, its confluence with another sacred river—and bathing there is seen to bestow even more religious merit than a regular Ganges bath.
Bathing at especially auspicious periods in the calendar may enhance this holiness even further.
- The annual Magh Mela, for example, is a bathing event that takes place during the lunar month of Magh (January–February).
- The holiest time to bathe is at the Kumbha Mela event, which takes place every twelve years when Jupiter is in Taurus.
- Six years after the Kumbha Mela, the Ardha (“half”) Kumbha Mela takes place, which has less sanctity than the “full” Kumbha Mela but is nevertheless regarded a very auspicious occasion.
- The Kumbha Mela at Allahabad in 1989 was the world's biggest religious event, with an estimated fifteen million people attending on a single day.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
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