page_title: Mahamaham
section_title: Mahamaham festival rituals
hierarchical_section_title: Mahamaham / The Tank / Mahamaham festival rituals
caption_attribution_description: English: Hindu temple, kumbakonam, masimagam
context_page_description: Mahamaham, also known as Mahamagham or Mamangam, is a Hindu festival celebrated every 12 years in the Mahamaham tank located in the South Indian town of Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, India. This 20-acre square tank surrounded by Shiva mandapams is believed by Tamil Hindus to be ancient, and the holy confluence of nine Indian river goddesses: Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra, Kaveri, and Sarayu, states Diana Eck – a professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies. On the day of the Mahamaham festival, the river goddesses and Shiva gather here to rejuvenate their waters, according to a legend in the Periya Purana. The Hindus consider taking a pilgrimage and holy dip at the Mahamaham tirtha on the day of Mahamaham festival as sacred. The event attracts chariot processions, street fairs and classical dance performances in temple mandapas. The 12-year cycle Mahamaham festival in Tamil Nadu is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Magha, and is a symbolic equivalent of the Kumbh Mela in Prayag, Uttar Pradesh.
context_section_description: On the Mahamaham day people start with praying these Siva temples, followed by a dip in the holy tank. The devouts follow a more exhaustive procedure with dips in the 20 wells, visit to Kumbeswarar Temple, dip in the holy tank and finally in Kaveri river to complete the process. Other celebrations including public chariot parades and fares, featuring the sanctum idols of the main temples of Kumbakonam being brought out for public viewing, carried in wooden chariots through the different streets of the town.
caption: The tank and Masimaham festival
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