Legend: As per the Hindu belief, there are three crore and ten thousand ‘teerthas’ in three ‘lokas’ (त्रिलोक) – Earth, Heaven and Ether. These all converge in at Triveni Sangam (त्रिवेणी संगम) in Prayagraj in the month of Magh (माघ). The Hindus – pilgrims, saints, seers, ‘rishis’ (ऋषि) and ‘mahatmas’ (महात्मा) flock to Prayagraj to take holy dip in the Sangam to please Lord Veni Madhav, the chief deity of Prayagraj, the king of all ‘teerthas’ (तीर्थ) in the said three worlds. A holy dip in the Triveni Sangam absolves one of sins and ensures attaining salvation.
Another legend describes the religious significance of Prayagraj. Once Lord Brahma (Creator of Universe) used a scale to weigh the Saptapuris (सप्तपुरी) - Ayodhya, Mathura , Haridwar, Kashi ( Varanasi), Kanchi, Ujjain and Puri . Each city weighed evenly against each other. Then, on one side of the scale the Saptapuris were kept and on the other Sapt Kul Parvatas (mountains), Saptsamudras (seven seas), Saptadweepas , Navkhandas, all ‘teerthas’, rivers and rivulets yet the scale did not become even and the side of Saptapuris on the scale was heavy. Lord Brahma and other gods baffled at this miracle weighed again and again but the result was the same. But when put on one side of the scale the ‘saptapuris’, the mountains, the seas, the dweepas, the Navkhandas, all the teerthas, rivers and the rivulets and on another side placed Prayagraj, considered the head of the Virat Purusha (विराट पुरुष), the two sides of the scale weighed evenly.
Being seat of Virat Purush or Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi, Prayagraj grants the four Purusharthas (पुरुषार्थ) – Dharma (धर्म), Artha (अर्थ), Kama (काम) and Moksh (मोक्ष), while other ‘teerthas’ either grant ‘moksh’ or grant wish fulfillment and so on. That’s why Lord Brahma performed ten Ashwamedh Yagyas (अश्वमेध यज्ञ) on the western bank of the Ganga after which there is the Dashashvamedhaghat in Prayagraj. Lord Shiva performed Tandava (तांडव) dance near the Akhayavat (अक्षयवट), permanent abode of Lord Vishnu who advised Lord Shiva to live in Anandvan at the confluence of Varuna and Assi rivers after which the city of Varanasi is named. Indra, Som and Varun gods too worshipped Lord Vishnu here. The city derives its name Prayag from the two words – the prefix ‘pra’ means ‘prakrishta’ (great) and ‘yag’ means ‘yagya’ – as great ‘yagyas’ were performed here. This is the significance of the name Prayag. Akshayavat, situated in the precincts of Allahabad Fort on its southern side overlooking the Sangam, does not perish even in ‘Mahapralaya’ (महाप्रलय – Great Deluge). Lord Vishnu, the Virat Purush, starts recreating the world from this very point being his permanent abode.
As per Padma Puran, Lord Vishnu, the presiding deity of Prayagraj, sleeps as a child on the leaves of Akshayavat, the undying banyan tree, encompassing in his stomach the entire Brahmanda (ब्रह्मांड - Universe) and recreates the world after its annihilation. Lord Vishnu takes care of Prayagraj in the form of Veni Madhav (वेणी माधव), Akshaya Madhav (अक्षय माधव), Vat Madhav (वट माधव), Mool Madhav (मूल माधव), Shankh Madhav (शंख माधव), Chakra Madhav (चक्र माधव), Gada Madhav (गदा माधव), Padma Madhav (पद्म माधव), Anant Madhav (अनंत माधव), Vindu Madhav (विन्दु माधव), Manohar Madhav (मनोहर माधव) and Asi Madhav (असी माधव). At Triveni Sangam, Lord Vishnu is known as Veni Madhav, the chief deity of Prayagraj, and in the form of Sankashtahar Madhav (संकष्टहर माधव), he takes a constant round of all the directions in the Prayag Kshetra (प्रयाग क्षेत्र) to protect his devotees from evils and help them attain Dharm, Arth, Kam and Moksh.
Antiquity: Rigved (ऋग्वेद), Puranas (पुराण), Smritis (स्मृतियाँ), Mahabharat (महाभारत), Shastras (शास्त्र) and Tantra Granthas (तंत्र ग्रंथ) make innumerable mention of the importance of Prayag and a dip at the Sangam. Rigved, in existence since 8000 B.C. and the oldest written book in the world, provides the earliest reference to the importance of a dip at the Sangam in Prayagraj. A ‘richa’ (ऋचा) in the Dasham (Tenth) Mandal of Rigved says that those who bath at the Sangam attain salvation after death. The great Sage Bhardwaj lived in Prayag some 8000 years before the birth of Christ, teaching ten thousand disciples and spreading scientific celestial knowledge. Rigveda’s Shakal Samhita refers to Sage Bharadwaj. Numerous Vedic hymns are credited to him. He has been acclaimed as a great philosopher and exponent of the Vedas, a scientist, and a great teacher.
Prayagraj finds mention in the ‘Aadi Parva’ of the Mahabharat. As per the Van Pava in Mahabharat, Sage Dhaumya and Sage Pulatsya Rishis had undertaken a pilgrimage to Prayag. The Anushasan Parva of the Mahabharata refers to the visits of the ‘teerthas’ of the world to Prayagraj during the auspicious month of Magh. According to the ‘puranas’, Prayag is said to be the birth place of Lord Brahma and Som & Varun gods.
Eminent poet- saint Goswami Tulsi Das has created an allegory in Sri Ramcharitmanas (श्री रामचरितमानस) as perceived by Lord Ram while he reached Prayagraj during his exile…
"The secretary of Prayagaraj is truth, consort (queen) is faith, Veni Madhav is the ever-helping Friend. The treasury is full of the four ‘purusharthas’ (पुरुषार्थ) - Dharma (Duty), Artha (Wealth), Kaam (Noble desires) and Moksha (Salvation). The holy place (the kingdom) is very beautiful. It is an inaccessible fortress, which even in dream enemies could not capture. It has a large army of all the holy ‘teerthas’ powerful enough to humble any army of sins and evil-doers. The throne of Prayagraj is the confluence of the three rivers. The canopy over it is the Akshayavat. The waves of the Ganga and Yamuna attend on the Teertharaj as Chawar (a special kind of large hanging fan tied to a string for swinging in either direction to make air for cooling effect in the sweltering summer season). By witnessing the ‘Teertharaj’, the sufferings and poverty vanish."
Lord Ram had a dip at the Sangam, worshipped Lord Shiva and other ‘teerth devatas’ (gods) and then proceeded to the Ashram of Sage Bhardwaj.
History: Prayagraj and its nearby tract with its capital at Kaushambi were known as Vatsa Janapad. It was one of the sixteen ‘Maha Janpadas’ in ‘Aryavart’ in ancient times. In the fourth and fifth centuries, Prayagraj was one of the capitals of the Gupta Empire. In the seventh century, Emperor Harsha Vardhan convened a great Buddhist assembly here which was attended by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang. The place was named Allahabad by the Mughal invader Akbar who built a fort in 1583 AD. After Mughal rule, the region came under the control of the ‘nawabs’ of Awadh and later the British. After the failure of our first freedom struggle against the British in 1857 AD, the Delhi division was separated from the North-West Province in 1858 AD and also the provincial capital was shifted from Agra to Allahabad (Prayagraj). Prayagraj is also the place where many events of India’s struggle for freedom took place; this is where the first Indian National Congress formed in 1885 AD and where Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence movement started in 1920 AD.
A tourist finds many well preserved relics belonging to the British here like Muir College and the All Saints Cathedral. It is this confluence of tradition, mythology and history of Prayagraj that makes it a great city. There are many places around Prayagraj worth visiting. Every year, thousands gather at Prayagraj to take part in the Magh Mela festival, which is held on the banks of the Ganga. The same festival is organized on a larger scale every 12th year and is called the Kumbha Mela, where over 10 million Hindu pilgrims congregate — the largest gathering of human beings in the world. A dip at the confluence during the mela (fair) is the ambition of millions.