Ganga Sagara Mela

What is Ganga Sagara Mela?

Ganga Sagara Mela is the pilgrims' fair on Sagara Island in Bengal, at the place where the river Ganga flows into the ocean. Pilgrims travel from far away to bathe there on Makara Sankranti, the day the sun moves into Makara, and then they worship Mother Ganga. In 2027 the Mela falls on Friday, 15 January.

Significance

The island owes its sanctity to King Sagara of Ayodhya. His sixty thousand princes followed the sacrificial horse into the ashrama of the sage Kapila, an incarnation of the Lord. They disturbed the sage's meditation, and his curse burnt them. Many years later Sagara's great-grandson Bhagiratha prayed to Lord Vishnu to send the heavenly Ganga down to wash their bones and free them.

In Srila Prabhupada's translation of the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna counts the Ganges among His own opulences:

Of purifiers I am the wind, of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma, of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.

Bhagavad-gita 10.31

How to observe it

At Sagara Island pilgrims bathe in the Ganga and visit the ashrama of Kapila. According to ISKCON News, devotees from ISKCON Mayapur have served at the Mela by giving out free prasada and holding street kirtana. If you cannot travel there, add a few drops of Ganga water to your bath, hear how Bhagiratha brought the Ganga down, and chant the holy names of Krishna.