2019 - Kumbh Snan | Mint Souvenir Token

To address the world's largest religious and cultural human congregation Kumbha Mela 2019, a souvenir silver token was issued by Mumbai Mint.

Prayagraj Ardh Kumbh Mela, 2019 was the Ardh Kumbh Mela held at Triveni Sangam in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India from 15 January to 4 March 2019.

The Prayag Kumbh Mela is a Hindu festival mela held at Prayag Triveni Sangam – the meeting points of three rivers: the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati – in Allahabad.

The festival is marked by a ritual dip in the waters, but it is also a celebration of community commerce with numerous fairs, education, religious discourses by saints, mass feedings of monks or the poor, and entertainment spectacle.

The full Kumbh mela is held every 12 years, while an ardha (half) mela is held after about 6 years at the same site. The 2013 Kumbh mela was the largest religious gathering in the world with almost 120 million visitors. An Ardh Kumbh Mela was held in early 2019. The next full Kumbh mela is scheduled for 2025. The exact date is based on the Hindu luni-solar calendar and is determined by the entry of planet Jupiter in Taurus zodiac and while the sun and the moon is in Capricorn.

The Mela is one of the four fairs traditionally recognized as Kumbh Melas. An annual fair, known as Magh Mela, has been held at Prayag Triveni sangam since ancient times (at least early centuries CE). The site, its sacredness, bathing pilgrimage and the annual festival is mentioned in the ancient Puranas and the epic Mahabharata. The festival is also mentioned in later era texts such as those by Muslim historians of the Mughal Empire. However, these sources do not use the phrase "Kumbh Mela" for the bathing festival at Prayag (renamed Allahabad during the Mughal era). The earliest mention of a Kumbh Mela at Allahabad occurs only after the mid-19th century in colonial era documents. The Prayagwals (local Brahmins of Prayag) are believed to have adopted the kumbha myth and the 12-year cycle of the historic Haridwar Kumbh Mela for their annual Magh Mela around this time. Since then, every 12 years, the Magh Mela turns into a Kumbh Mela, and six years after a Kumbh Mela, it is an Ardh Kumbh ("Half Kumbh") Mela.