Which is the name of the Hindu religious demonstration that happens in 12 in 12 years in some places of India?

Question

Which is the name of the Hindu religious demonstration that happens in 12 in 12 years in some places of India?

Why the men are naked there?

Which is the name of those people?

Not hatching the women and the children to see nakeds?

Where the men step on in pregos and thread knives in the body.

I am Brazilian and vi in the television this religious demonstration.

Answer 1

Kumbh Mela (the Urn Festival) is a Hindu pilgrimage that occurs four times every twelve years and rotates between four locations: Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each twelve-year cycle includes one Maha Kumbh Mela (Great Kumbh Mela) at Prayag, which is attended by millions of people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world.

The precise dates of the Kumbh Mela are astrologically determined, based upon the positions of the Sun, the Moon and Jupiter. At Prayag, the Maha Kumbh Mela is held in the month of Magha (January/February in the Gregorian calendar). The highest spiritual merit is attached to bathing on the new moon day, when Jupiter is in Taurus and both the Sun and Moon are in Capricorn. At Haridwar, the Kumbh Mela is held in the months of Phalgun and Chaitra (February/March/April), when the Sun passes to Aries, the Moon is in Sagittarius and Jupiter is in Aquarius. In Ujjain, the festival is held in the month of Vaishakha (May), when other planets are in Libra, the Sun and Moon are in Aries and Jupiter is in Leo. At Nashik, the Kumbh Mela takes place in the month of Shravana (July), when the Sun and Moon are in Cancer and Jupiter is in Scorpio.

It is also said that the elixir of life is filled in a Kumbh (Pot) in Swarg (heaven) so with certain combination of Sun - Moon - Jupiter combination, the elixir falls from heaven to earth, and kumbh mela is held on those locations.

The observance of Kumbh Mela is based upon the following legend: Thousands of years ago, in the Vedic period, gods and demons made a temporary agreement to work together churning amrita (the nectar of immortality) from the Ksheera Sagara (primordial ocean of milk), and to share the nectar equally. However, when the Kumbh (urn) containing the amrita appeared, the demons ran away with it and were chased by the gods. For twelve days and twelve nights (equivalent to twelve human years) the gods and demons fought in the sky for possession of this pot of amrita. It is said that during the battle, drops of amrita fell at four places: Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Thus, the Kumbh Mela is observed at these four locations where the nectar fell.

Kumbh Mela is attended by millions of people on a single day. The major event of this festival is a ritual bath at the banks of the rivers in each town. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardized. Kumbh Mela (especially the Maha Kumbh Mela) is the most sacred of all the Hindu pilgrimages. Thousands of holy men and women (monks, saints and sadhus) attend, and the auspiciousness of the festival is in part attributable to this.

For more information, go to the following site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela

Answer 2

Mythological legends say that at the beginning of creation, all the Gods were under a curse that made them weak and cowardly. Brahma, the creator God, advised them to retrieve the Kumbh (pot) containing the nectar of immortality (amrit). The gods sought help from the demons, and together they churned the primordial ocean to bring up the nectar.

As Dhanwantari, the divine healer, appeared with the "Kumbh" containing nectar in his palms, a great fight ensued between the Gods and demons to wrest the pitcher. During the fierce battle in the sky, a few drops of nectar fell in four different places: Allahabad (Prayag), Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain.

Since then, when the planets align in the same position, pilgrims and devotees converge to commemorate this divine event. Kumbh Mela takes place every three years in rotation in the four sacred places. Therefore Kumbh Mela at Allahabad, the most holy of these fairs, only takes place every twelfth year. The Ardh Kumbh Mela takes place in the sixth year between Kumbh Melas.

In the four holy places Kumbh Mela takes place at an interval of twelve years coinciding with one round of Jupiter through the zodiac. In Allahabad it takes place with Jupiter in Vrishabh (Taurus) while the Sun enters Makara (Capricorn) coinciding with the northerly course of the Sun. The major bath takes place when the Moon too enters Makara.
For info, visit http://www.divinerevelation.org/KumbhMela.html
The men (saints) aren't totally naked.The esssential parts r covered.It's like wearing swimming-costumes. They believe in spiritual & frugal living.Plus 4 taking a holy dip in the river, they have to undress themselves [ again, not totally ;) ]

Answer 3

That is Kumb Mela. There is a documentary about it called "kings with straw mats" a great film

The naked men are sadhus(holy men) who refuse to own anything

Answer 4

This festival's name is Kumbh Mela. It has deep symbolic, religious, social and mythologic significance for all the Indians.

The naked saddhus are actually the Naga-Babas -- the adherents of military monk orders that renounce everything to pursue higher spiritual aims and protect Hindu religion.
There's a good movie from Kumbh Mela 2013 in Allahabad describing the life with these people: http://ahamot.org/en/kumbhmela2013-living-with-mahatiagi/

Answer 5

yes it is a cutom of jainism..