The myth of Kumbha is conncted to Sumadra Manthan or chirning of the Ocean of Milk. Many of you may be aware of this in connection with the birth of Rahu and Ketu. But in this myth, there is a slightly different angle. When Jupiter was in Capircorn, the gods lost their power and were misbehaving just like the Demonds. Moon has gone into the ocean and the nights of pure darkness was creating Tamas in al lcreatures. T oresolve this, Brahma, the creator, advised the Gods to retrieve the Kumbha or the pot containing the nectar of immortality (amrit) from the oceans. Brihaspati( Jupiter) who is the advisor of the gods told them that this task was so great that they could only achieve success if they took the help of the Demons. So stage was set for this unusual collaboration. The gift at the end was of immortality and eternal happiness.
In the Himalayas, near Haridwar, there was the Ocean of milk and Devtas and the Asuras ( gods and demons) jointly churned the ocea.
Mandara mountain was the rod and the Snake Vasuki was the rope and Lord Vishnu took form of Kurma (tortoise) to become the base, in order to ensure the success of this mission. During the manthan process, one by one
Puspaka Ratha (Aeroplane) , Airavat Elephant, the goddess Laxmi etc and at last
Dhanvantari, the god of Ayurveda came out with
kumbha carrying the amrita . Dhanwantari handed over the Kumbha to Indra who gave it to his son Jayanta. Instigated by the Gods, Jayanta ran way with the kumbha towards Swarga (heaven). The advisor of Demonds, Sukracharya ( Venus) ordered his disciples to get the Kumbha back as without that they will lose their power and the Gods will become all powerful again.
A great war broke out between Devta's and Asura's. The Devatas were chased by the Asuras for twelve days around the earth. At this time, the gods hid the nectar in four important pilgimage sites -
Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. Since then, Kumbhamela is held at this four places to celebrate the rescue of the Amrita. Since one day of Gods time is equillant of one year in Earth time, A Purna Kumbha takes place after every twelve years and an Ardha Kumbh after every six years. Since Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon) and Brihaspati were there to protect the kumbha during the battle, they must be in special configuration for Kumbha Yoga and its festivities to take place. .
