Simhasth Kumbh Ujjain 2016

The Simhastha Kumbh is an unrivalled celebration in India. The most popular legend regarding the origin of Kumbh Melas is the Samudra Manthan or 'churning of the ocean'. Gods and demons competed ercely in the churning in search of the divine nectar of immortality. During this epic battle to capture the Urn (Kumbh) containing the nectar, drops of the precious liquid fell on four places – Haridwar, Prayag (Allahabad), Nashik and Ujjain. Hence, river Kshipra became the enhancer of life and to celebrate this event since then the grand festival came in vogue. Kumbh Mela, is held once every twelve years at these four places and attracts millions of devotees.

The Ujjain Kumbh is celebrated when Jupiter ascends into sun sign Leo's quarter or the Simha constellation of zodiac, which is why it is called 'Simhastha'. The Simhastha is special in Ujjain as it is the seat of divine Mahakal - the Lord of all times. The ritual of bathing in the holy waters of Kshipra begins on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Chaitra (March-April) and continues on various dates until the full moon shows up in the following month of Vaishakha.

The dates as per the Gregorian calender for this mela are from 22nd April 2016 till 21st May 2016.

Sadhus of various sects as well as ordinary devotees and tourists from across the world will assemble in Ujjain and will take their ritual dip in the holy waters of the Kshipra.

This app provides an all encompassing look at the mela from the perspective of a discerning visitor eager to take a dip into the atmosphere and also to experience all what is on offer at Ujjain and its surroundings. The main features of the app are;

1. About the Kumbh Mela: This section provides extensive religious and astrological information on the mela including time table of shahi snans (Main Bathing dates), Akhadas etc.

2. Temples of Ujjain: An interactive guide to all the major temples of ujjain including multilingual textual as well as audio guides foe every temple. The languages include English, French, German and Spanish.

3. Utilities: Information on the tourist utilities like ambulances, ATM's, communication centers, fire services, lodging, restaurants, police, medical stores etc available in Ujjain city located in the vicinity of the user. This uses the GPS coordinates of the user and then provides information on the location and the route to that place.

4. Hotels: Information is also available on the various private as well as tourism department hotels located in the city alongwith the facility to directly call these hotels from the app itself.

5. Tourist Attractions: For those inclined to explore tourist spots around ujjain and other places in the state of Madhya Pradesh a guide to various places of interest in incuded in the app.