Ganga jal from Maha Kumbh distributed in Adilabad

The Maha Kumbh Mela, celebrated once every 144 years, holds immense spiritual significance. Devotees who are unable to attend the event due to financial constraints, distance, or age receive the sacred water from those who make the pilgrimage, allowing them to experience a symbolic holy dip at home. Many mix the Ganga Jal with bucket water for bathing, believing it to be as sacred as immersing in the Sangam at Prayagraj.

This tradition is not new; devotees have long carried sacred water back home during Godavari and Krishna Pushkaralu, ensuring that those unable to travel can still partake in the spiritual essence of the event.

Among those who followed this practice is Congress leader Lok Praveen Reddy from Kailasnagar, Adilabad, who, along with his friends, travelled to the Maha Kumbh Mela, took a holy dip, and brought back plastic cans filled with Ganga Jal. He later distributed the water among people in his locality.

“Bringing back sacred Ganga Jal is a long-standing tradition. Many devotees who cannot afford the pilgrimage feel blessed when they receive the holy water,” Reddy said.

Similarly, Prakash, a priest at the Vinayak Temple near RIMS in Adilabad, also brought back Ganga Jal after attending the Kumbh Mela. He distributes the sacred water in small bottles to devotees visiting his temple.

Adding to this effort, Pramod Khatri of Sanatana Hindu Utsav Samiti, who owns a private travel service, requested his bus driver transporting pilgrims to the Maha Kumbh Mela to bring back a 20-litre can of Ganga Jal. This sacred water was later distributed to local devotees at Sri Gopala Krishna Matham in Adilabad town.