Ganga Sagar Mela is a festival celebrated in January. It is celebrated at Sagar which is 105 kilometers away from Kolkata. It is the meeting place of the Ganga with the Bay of Bengal. A dip in the holy water means redemption for all wrong done.
Traditional belief is that before joining the sea, the Ganga watered the mortal remains of King Sagar’s 60000 sons liberating their souls once and forever. It was standing on the Sagar Island that the mythical Kapil Muni condoned the sins of the sons of King Sagar who had dared to stop the horse blessed at Lord Indra’s Aswamedha Yagna and tied it to a post near his temple.
The mela attracts thousands of devotees from all part of the country. People crowd around the naga sadhus (naked ascetics) without whom the Ganga Sagar mela is incomplete. Sitting naked in little huts near the temple and enjoying a chillum of ganja, (cannabis) they are also the target of tourists’ camera.
[Source All India (121) 27-May-04]
