Near the headwaters
of the Godavari River in Maharashtra, some 100 miles northeast of Bombay, is a
city and holy place (tirtha).
The Kumbha Mela, a religious bathing (snana) event, is held
at Nasik, one of four locations.
Every twelve years, Nasik organizes this event.
Nasik is a popular bathing destination as well as a site of
pilgrimage, devotion, and study.
The divine king Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother
Lakshmana, according to legend, spent most of their twelve-year exile at the
adjacent town of Panchavati.
The Ramayana, the earlier of the two major Hindu epics, has
Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana as prominent characters.
The tale lends another degree of sacredness to the place,
despite the fact that allegations of them dwelling near Nasik are hard to
establish or reject.
