STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES OF INDIA
TAMIL NADU
Kumbakonam - Mahamaham Tank
The most famous
and revered of many sacred water tanks in the southeast of Kumbakonam,
is the Mahamagham.
The huge Mahamagam
tank is surrounded by 16 picturesque mandapams, dating back to the 16th
century.
It is said
to have filled with ambrosia collected from the pot broken by Shiva. The
devout believe that that the nine sacred rivers of India appear in this
tank in the month of Masi (Feb/March) on the Mahamagham Day every twelve
years, when Jupiter passes the constellation of Leo. It is believed that
water from the Ganges and eight other holy rivers flow into the tank, thus
according it the status of tirtha, or sacred river crossing.
The Mahamagam
festival attracts crowds from all over India. At this auspicious time,
as many as two million pilgrims come here to take a holy dip.
In 1992, sixty
people died in an accident variously ascribed to a collapsing wall or to
general mayhem. During a lesser annual festival (Feb/March) the deity from
the Kumbeshwara temple is taken to Mahamagham in procession.
Mahaamaham festival
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