Historical and Mythological Origins of Mahakumbh

The Mahakumbh has deep roots in ancient Hindu mythology. One of the two stories of Mahakumbh is the story of the snakes and Garuda Dev.
The story is about a sage named Kashyap. He had two wives, who were sisters. One was Kadru, the other was Vinita. One day, Kadru asked Kashyap for a boon. She wanted 100 powerful, poisonous children. The sage granted it, and Kadru got 100 eggs. Vinita felt she should also get a boon. So, she went to Kashyap. She asked for a few children, but they should be more powerful than Kadru’s. Rishi Kashyap said “tathastu.” Vinita got the boon and got two eggs. Now, the hundred eggs started to break, one by one. Babies emerged from the eggs, but they were snakes and Kadru is considered to be the mother of all the snakes in the world. So when Kadru’s eggs started breaking one by one and babies started coming out of them, Vinita became impatient; she started losing her patience and thoughts about why she was not having children.
In that hurry, Vinita broke one of the two eggs with her hand, and what came out of that egg? A half-developed body formed from the top to the waist. But, it was not finished below the waist. It flew in the air and angrily told its mother, Vinita, “Don’t make the same mistake with the other egg. Be patient.” Then, it flew into the sky. When the other egg broke, a human was born. He had a bird’s face and a human’s body. He could fly. They named him Garuda. His elder brother, Arun, hatched first. Today, Arun is the Sun God’s charioteer, riding his horse. By the time Garuda came out, Vinita had become the slave of Kadru and her 100 children, who were snakes. But Garuda did not like this, and he went and asked them all what should I do. You people free my mother from slavery and everyone said, “Bring the pot of Amrit from Vaikunth.” The pot in which the nectar is kept is called Amrit Kalash. Garuda was so powerful that he said, “Okay, I will do anything and bring that pot for you. I will give it to you people, after which you will free my mother from slavery.” This contract was made. Then, Garuda flew to Vaikunth Dham and picked up the pot of Amrit. All the powerful gods, like Indra Dev and Surya Dev, tried to stop Garuda’s path, but Garuda was so powerful that he defeated them all one by one. Lord Vishnu learned of this when the gods ran to him. They said a disaster would occur if the wrong hands got the pot of nectar. A very powerful creature with a bird’s face and a human body came from nowhere. He has wings and can fly. He is more powerful than all of us. So, stop him. Lord Vishnu entered the war, and a battle broke out between him and Garuda. In the middle of this war, Vishnu ji saw that Garuda had a pot of nectar in his hand. But he was not opening it and consuming the nectar. He was holding it. Then Vishnu ji asked him, “Why are you stealing this? Where are you trying to go with this? And when the Amrit Kalash is in your hand itself, why don’t you grab it?” Then Garuda told him the whole story and the entire agony that he had taken the pot to free his mother. Vishnu Ji said, “Okay, you can take the Amrit Kalash on one condition. If I let you take it, you must be my vehicle forever after you deliver it to Earth.” You will become one with me and will stay with me. Garuda accepted this condition. As soon as Garuda took the Amrit Kalash, Vishnu ji took it. He placed it on the ground and made it disappear with his magic. But Garuda had already taken that urn of nectar and kept it in front of the snakes and Kadru. His vow was fulfilled, and his mother, Vinita, was freed from the Dasiva. This is the first story of Amrit Kalash. It is believed that when Vishnu and Garuda were fighting, Amrit fell out from that pot and some drops of nectar fell to earth. It is said that the four places where those drops fell are where the Maha Kumbh takes place today: Ujjain, Haridwar, Nashik, and Prayagraj!
The second story links to the churning of the ocean, Samudra Manthan, in which all the gods stood on one side and all the demons stood on the other side. Vishnu ji himself, in the form of a tortoise in the Kurma avatar, stood on the side of the gods as they churned the mountain. One by one, things emerged, and when Dhanvantari came out with his Amrit Kalash in his hands, the demons saw the part of the nectar and gave it to Dhanvantari. They wanted to snatch it from the demons, and the gods also wanted it. In the entire tug-of-war, the gods fought to protect Amrit Kalash. When they kept running here and there from the demons for 12 days, but those 12 days were not like ours! But they were his 12 divine days, and in these 12 days, he rested at 4 places, where the Amrit Kalash was kept: Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik, and Prayagraj.
These are the two stories, and in these 12 days, he took breaks four times. It says he visited a city every 12 years for 4 days. 
That’s why these two stories of Amrit Kalash are linked to Kumbh Mela.
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