section_path: Etymology and nomenclature/Historical origins
section_name: Historical origins
paragraph_text: Historical origins
  
  Many Hindus believe that the Kumbh Mela originated in times immemorial and is attested in the Hindu Puranas about Samudra Manthana (lit. churning of the ocean) found in the Puranas. Historians, in contrast, reject these claims as none of the ancient or medieval era texts that mention the Samudra Manthana legend ever link it to a "mela" or festival. According to Giorgio Bonazzoli, a scholar of Sanskrit Puranas, these are anachronistic explanations, an adaptation of early legends to a later practice by a "small circle of adherents" who have sought the roots of a highly popular pilgrimage and festival.
  
  Hindu mythology describes the creation of a "pot of amrita (nectar of immortality)" after the forces of good and evil churn the ocean of creation. The gods and demons fight over this pot, the " kumbha ", of nectar in order to gain immortality. In a later day extension to the legend, the pot is spilt at four places, and that is the origin of the four Kumbha Melas. The story varies, with some stating Vishnu as Mohini avatar, others stating Dhanavantari or Garuda or Indra spilling the pot. This "spilling" and associated Kumbh Mela story is not found in the earliest mentions of the original legend of Samudra Manthana (churning of the ocean) such as the Vedic era texts (pre-500 BCE), or the earliest of the Puranas (3rd to 10th-century CE).
  
  While the Kumbha Mela phrase is not found in the ancient or medieval era texts, numerous chapters and verses in Hindu texts are found about a bathing festival, the sacred junction of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and sacred Saraswati at Prayag, and pilgrimage to Prayag. These are in the form of Snana (bathe) ritual and in the form of Prayag Mahatmya (greatness of Prayag, historical tour guides in Sanskrit).
  
  Many Hindus believe that the Kumbh Mela originated in times immemorial and is attested in the Hindu Puranas about Samudra Manthana (lit. churning of the ocean) found in the Puranas. Historians, in contrast, reject these claims as none of the ancient or medieval era texts that mention the Samudra Manthana legend ever link it to a "mela" or festival. According to Giorgio Bonazzoli, a scholar of Sanskrit Puranas, these are anachronistic explanations, an adaptation of early legends to a later practice by a "small circle of adherents" who have sought the roots of a highly popular pilgrimage and festival.
  
  Hindu mythology describes the creation of a "pot of amrita (nectar of immortality)" after the forces of good and evil churn the ocean of creation. The gods and demons fight over this pot, the " kumbha ", of nectar in order to gain immortality. In a later day extension to the legend, the pot is spilt at four places, and that is the origin of the four Kumbha Melas. The story varies, with some stating Vishnu as Mohini avatar, others stating Dhanavantari or Garuda or Indra spilling the pot. This "spilling" and associated Kumbh Mela story is not found in the earliest mentions of the original legend of Samudra Manthana (churning of the ocean) such as the Vedic era texts (pre-500 BCE), or the earliest of the Puranas (3rd to 10th-century CE).
  
  While the Kumbha Mela phrase is not found in the ancient or medieval era texts, numerous chapters and verses in Hindu texts are found about a bathing festival, the sacred junction of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and sacred Saraswati at Prayag, and pilgrimage to Prayag. These are in the form of Snana (bathe) ritual and in the form of Prayag Mahatmya (greatness of Prayag, historical tour guides in Sanskrit).