Held once every 12 years, this year during the ongoing pandemic, the Maha Kumbh was held on the 11th year due to astrological reasons

HARIDWAR: Amid a raging pandemic, the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar with lakhs in attendance was held after 11 years this time and not the traditional 12 years due to "astrological reasons".
Instead of the 12-year cycle that the Kumbh traditionally follows, the mela was held this year, 11 years after the one in Haridwar in 2010, mainly because of the "favourable astrological position of Sun moving into Aries and Jupiter into Aquarius." One of the organisations involved in taking the decision was Ganga Sabha, the body of priests responsible for upkeep of Har-ki-Pauri at Haridwar, which communicated to the Akhil Bahratiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP), the apex body of akhadas, in January 2019 that the Kumbh should be held in 2021 instead of 2022 due to the astrological configurations.
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