History of the Kumbha (Kumbh) Mela
Ancient Timeline
10,000 BC: Historical postulates indicate presence of Neolithic Ritual River bathing fairs and festivals
600 BC: River melas are mentioned in Buddhist writings
400 BC: Greek envoy to Indian King Chandra Gupta reports on a Mela
300 BC: The present form of melas crystallizes at this time. Various Puranas, written texts based on ancient oral traditions, recount the dropping of the nectar of immortality at four sites after the "churning of the ocean"
547: Earliest recorded founding date of an Akhara (Monk order), the Abhana Akhara
600: Chinese pilgrim and writer Hiuen-Tsang attends a mela at Prayag (modern Allahabad), organized by King Harshavardhana
904: Founding of Niranjani Akhara
1146: Founding of Juna Akhara
1300: Kanphata Yogi militant ascetics are employed in the Rajasthan army
1398: Timur lays waste to Delhi to punish the sultan's tolerance toward Hindus, then proceeds to Haridwar mela and massacres thousands
1565: Madhusudana Sarasvati organizes fighting units of Dasanami orders
1684: Frenchman Tavernier estimates 1.2 million Hindu ascetics in India
1690: Saivites and Vaishnava sects battle at Nashik; 60,000 are killed
1760: Saivites and Vaishnavas battle at Haridwar mela; 1,800 die
1780: British establish the order for royal bathing by the monastic groups
1820: Stampede leaves 430 dead at the Haridwar mela
1906: British calvary intercede in a mela battle between sadhus
Recent History
1954: Four million people, 1 percent of India's population, attend the mela at Allahabad;
1989: Guinness Book of World Records proclaims the crowd of 15-million crowd at the February 6 Allahabad mela 'the largest-ever gathering of human beings for a single purpose'
1995: "Half-mela" (at six-year interval) at Allahabad has 20 million pilgrims on January 30 bathing day
1998: Haridwar attracts 25 million in four months; ten million on April 14
2001: Mela at Allahabad attracts 70 million pilgrims in six weeks, 30 million on January 24 alone
2003: Mela at Nasik attracts 6 million pilgrims on the main bathing day
2004: The Kumbha Mela is at Ujjain; the bathinh main days of April 5, 19, 22, 24 and May 4 attract more yhan 4 million pilgrims on each day
2007: Allahabad Ardha Kumbha Mela hosts 65 million pilgrims in 45 days
