India’s first village, Maanā, near Badrinath, will host the Pushkar Kumbh from May 14 to 25 this year. Held at the sacred confluence of the Saraswati and Alaknanda rivers, the religious event holds deep spiritual significance, especially in South India. So far, over 1.57 lakh devotees from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka have registered for the event.
The Pushkar Kumbh is held once every 12 years and is considered highly auspicious for holy bathing and worship at Keshav Prayag—where the underground Saraswati meets the Alaknanda. Due to the event, all hotels and homestays in Maanā are fully booked for May, indicating the scale of the pilgrimage.
This year’s event is being organized in accordance with the declaration by Shri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swami of Vijayawada. Villagers are also returning to their ancestral homes to take part, while local kitchens are receiving advance bookings from devotees. Notably, the last Pushkar Kumbh here concluded a day before the 2013 Kedarnath disaster.
