courtesy:
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Mahamaham is a
Hindu festival celebrated every 12 years in the
Mahamaham tank located in the South Indian town of
Kumbakonam in
Tamil Nadu,
India.
Hindus consider taking a holy dip at the Mahamaham tank on the day of
Mahamaham as sacred. The last Mahamaham was celebrated on March 6, 2004,
with people from various places taking the
holy dip in the Mahamaham tank. Next Mahamaham is going to happen on February 22, 2016.
In
the northern bank mandapa, there is an inscription of Tulapurshadana, a
practise of weighing oneself against gold. The ceremony is observed
during various times like equinoxes, commencement of an era (
Yuga) and its ending, eclipses and
Makara Sankranti.
The ceremony is usually performed in sacred places like temples, rivers
and tanks. The amount of gold thus weighed is distributed among
deserving men. As per legend, after the end of each era, the whole world
immerses in a deluge on account of the wrath of Hindu god
Shiva for the sins committed by humans in earth.
Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, recreated the world during the start of current
Kali Yuga .
Shiva declared that after the end of previous era, a divine pot would
reach a holy spot. As the divind pot reached Kumbakonam, Shiva, in the
form of a hunter, broke the pot with an arrow. The pot broke into many
parts and scattered around, which became the cause for so many temples
in the town - Kumbeswara, Someswara, Kasi Viswanatha, Nageswara, Kamata
Viswanatha, Abimukeshwara, Goutameswara, Banapuriswara, Varahar,
Lakshminaryana, Sarangapani, Chakrapani and Varadharaja. Brahma prayed
to Shiva to allow pilgrims to visit the tank during the sacred occasion.
Lord Shiva accepted the demand and is believed to arrive along with
Vishnu and other celestial deities at the centre of the tank.
Astronomically,
maham or magha is a nakshatra (constellation) in Leo sign (Simha Rasi).
Since Sun takes a year to go round (as viewed from earth, as if earth
is stationary), this festival is celebrated in the month when full moon
occurs as moon is passing Magha nakshatra (Leo sign) and Sun is on the
other end in the opposite Acquarius sign (Kumnha Rasi). Jupiter or Guru
takes twelve years to go around to complete one full revolution and
during this sojourn, it spends one year in Leo once every twelve years.
Mahamagham occurs once in twelve years when when the planet Jupiter's
residence in Leo co-incides with full-moon in Leo. This is also
considered a powerful astrological combination since Jupiter and Moon
will be on the same constellation with Sun on the other side, which is
considered very auspicious and highly beneficial. On the day of the
festival, it is believed to bring all water bodies together and enrich
the tank with minerals. Similarly, a lake in Kotihar in
Jammu and Kashmir gets
full supply of water the same day, which otherwise remains empty during
the other 11 years. Since Brahma reconstructed the world after the last
deluge, there is a temple dedicated to him in Kumbakonam, though he is
cursed not to have any temple for him anywhere else.
[1]
History[edit]
The
antiquity of the event is deduced from the architectural and
epigraphical patterns. The ceiling of the Gangatirtha mandapam carries
the sculptural representation of Tulapurushardava. It is believed that
Govinda Dikshitar subjected himself to the event and donated the gold to
the building of the sixteen mandapas. The visit of Krishandevaraya
during 1445 is recorded in an inscription in the gopuram of Nagalpuram, a
village in Chengalpattu district. That Krishnadevaraya visited the
event is also recorded in the inscription found in the Shiva temple in
Kuthalam.
[1]
The Festival[edit]
The Masimaham is an annual event that occurs in in kumbakanom in the
Tamil month of
Masi (February–March) in the star of
Magam which is a very beautiful and ancient and holy place. Refer legend above for astronomical and astrological basis.
[2] Vast
crowd of devotees gather at Kumbakonam to have a dip in the tank, along
with saints and holy men. All the rivers of India are believed to meet
at the tank on this day and a purificatory bath at this tank on this day
is considered equal to the combined dips in all the holy rivers of
India[2] Festival
deities from all the temples in Kumbakonam arrive at the tank and at
noon, all the deities bathe along with the devotees - it is called
"Theerthavari".
[3] The
purificatory bath is believed to remove sins and after the dip,
pilgrims offer charitable gifts in the hope of being rewarded in the
current life and subsequent lives.
[3]The
temple cars of major temples in Kumbakonam come around the city on the
festival night. During the Mahamaham of 1992, the number of devotees
reached 1 million.
[3]
View of the Mahamaham tank and the annual Masimaham festival
People are washing their sins on the holy rivers like
Ganges,
Yamuna,
Sarasvati River,
Sarayu,
Godavari River,
Mahanadi River,
Narmada River, Pavoshnl and
Kaveri River. These rivers wanted to get rid of their sins and approached Lord
Brahma. Lord
Brahma advised
these rivers if you meet together and take bath in Mahamaham would wash
off all the sins. Hence, during the time of Mahamaham festival, it is
also believed that taking bath in the holy stream of water from the
famous rivers like
Ganges,
Yamuna,
Sarasvati River,
Sarayu,
Godavari River,
Mahanadi River,
Narmada River, Pavoshnl and
Kaveri River,
which are mixed together in Mahamaham tank, would get rid of sins
according to beliefs. The images of the deities indicating the legend,
is housed in the nearby Kasi Viswanatha Temple.
[1]
Mahamaham
bathing festival is concentrated on a single day, the concourse of
pilgrims being all the more. During this festival, thousands of Hindu
devotees come to Kumbakonam, and take bath in a tank named Mahamaham
tank, generally followed or preceded by a dip in the
kaveri river at
Kumbakonam. The tank has 20 holy wells. These wells are named after 20
holy rivers flowing across India. People get themselves drained in these
wells. These wells are also called as "Theertham" (Holy water).
The Tank[edit]
File picture of yearly Masimaham festival
The
Tank is located in the heart of Kumbakonam town. It covers an area of
6.2 acres and is trapezoidal in shape. The tank is surrounded by 16
small Mandapams (shrines)
[4] and has 21 wells inside the tank. The names of the wells carry the name of
Lord Shiva or that of
Rivers of India.
[3] Govinda Dikshitar, the chieftain of
Ragunatha Nayak of
Thanjavur, constructed the sixteen
Mandapams and stone steps around this tank.
[5]
Names of 20 Theertham (wells)[edit]
1.Vayu
Theertham 2.Ganga Theertham 3.Bramma Theertham 4.Yamuna Theertham
5.Kubera Theertham 6.Godavari Theertham 7.Eshana Theertham 8.Narmada
Theertham 9.Saraswathi Theertham 10.Indira Theertham 11.Agni Theertham
12.Cauvery Theertham 13.Yama Theertham 14.Kumari Theertham 15.Niruthi
Theertham 16.Bayoshni Theertham 17.Deva Theertham 18.Varunai Theertham
19.Sarayu Theertham 20.Kanya Theertham
The
Mahamaham Tank has four streets alongs its four banks. It is
constructed with steps on the sides for people to easily access the tank
and take dips. There are 16 Mandapas ( Gopuram Towers) around the
corners and sides of the tank.These towers are considered to be forms
of
lord Shiva.
Names of the Gopuram Tower[edit]
1.Brammatheertheshwarar
2.Mukundeshwarar 3.Dhaneshwarar 4.Virushabeshwarar 5.Baaneshwarar
6.Koneshwarar 7.Bhakthikeshwarar 8.Bhairaveshwarar 9.Agasthyeshwarar
10.Vyaneshwarar 11.Umaibakeshwarar 12.Nairutheeshwarar 13.Brammeshwarar
14.Gangatheshwarar 15.Mukthatheertheshwarar 16.Shethrabaleshwarar
Mahamaham day worship[edit]
A file picture of Mahamham festival
On
the Mahamaham day people start with praying these Siva temples. This is
continued by dips in the 20 wells, visit to Kumbeswarar Temple, dip in
the holy tank and finally in
Kaveri river to complete the process.
On the occasion of the
festival,
metal idols of the deities of the main temples of Kumbakonam is carried
on palanquins or chariots and taken around the different streets of the
town. There is an oft quoted popular saying in
Sanskrit noting
Kumbakonam as even as more sacred than
Varanasi (Kasi). A sin committed at some ordinary place is washed off by a visit to a
holy place, sin done in a
sacred spot is washed off by going on a pilgrimage to
Varanasi (Kasi). If one dares to commit a sin in that sacred city too, that sin is wiped off at
Kumbakonam and any sinful act done at
Kumbakonam is atoned for there itself.
Connected Shiva Temples[edit]
12 Shiva temples are connected with this festival. They are
Kasi Viswanathar Temple,
Kumbeswarar Temple,
Nageswara Temple,
Someswarar Temple, Koteeswarar Temple,
Kahahasteeswarar Temple,
Gowthameswarar Temple, Amirthakalasanathar Temple,
Banapuriswarar Temple,
Abimukeswarar Temple,
Kambatta Visvanathar Temple and
Ekambareswarar Temple.
[6] Of them 10 temples are in Kumbakonam.
Connected Vishnu Temples[edit]
