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STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES OF INDIA
TAMIL NADU
Kumbakonam -
Mahamaham Tank

The most famous and revered of many sacred water tanks in the southeast of Kumbakonam, is the Mahamagham.
The huge Mahamagam tank is surrounded by 16 picturesque mandapams, dating back to the 16th century.

It is said to have filled with ambrosia collected from the pot broken by Shiva. The devout believe that that the nine sacred rivers of India appear in this tank in the month of Masi (Feb/March) on the Mahamagham Day every twelve years, when Jupiter passes the constellation of Leo. It is believed that water from the Ganges and eight other holy rivers flow into the tank, thus according it the status of tirtha, or sacred river crossing.

The Mahamagam festival attracts crowds from all over India. At this auspicious time, as many as two million pilgrims come here to take a holy dip.

In 1992, sixty people died in an accident variously ascribed to a collapsing wall or to general mayhem. During a lesser annual festival (Feb/March) the deity from the Kumbeshwara temple is taken to Mahamagham in procession.

Mahaamaham festival