Nashik–Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela 2027

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Guru Dattatreya, the devata of Juna Akhara, carried through the crowd before dawn, Shahi Snan at Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015
Guru Dattatreya, the devata of Juna Akhara, is carried through the crowd before dawn, Shahi Snan at Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015. Photo: Baba Rampuri

The Simhastha Kumbh Mela at Nashik and Trimbakeshwar has begun. On Saturday 31 October 2026, at 12:02 pm, the moment Jupiter entered Simha (Leo), the dharma dhwaj was raised at the same time at Ramkund in Nashik and at Kushavarta Tirtha in Trimbakeshwar. The mela runs until the flag is lowered on 24 July 2028. For the three Amrit Snans in August and September 2027, when the akharas go in grand procession to bathe, the public will arrive in huge numbers from all over Bharat.

Key dates

DateWhat happens
Sat 31 Oct 2026Dhwajarohan, the flag-hoisting at Ramkund and Kushavarta: the Simhastha begins
Thu 29 Jul 2027Nagar Pradakshina
Mon 2 Aug 20271st Amrit Snan · Somvati Amavasya · Nashik and Trimbakeshwar
Tue 31 Aug 20272nd Amrit Snan · Shravan Amavasya · Nashik and Trimbakeshwar
Sat 11 Sep 20273rd Amrit Snan at Nashik (Ramkund) · Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi
Sun 12 Sep 20273rd Amrit Snan at Trimbakeshwar (Kushavarta) · Bhadrapada Shukla Dwadashi
Mon 24 Jul 2028The flag is lowered: the Simhastha ends

Besides the three Amrit Snans there are many other bathing days (parva snan): 44 at Nashik and 53 at Trimbakeshwar. The thirteen akharas and the Government of Maharashtra agreed this schedule on 1 June 2025, when the old name "Shahi Snan" was also changed to "Amrit Snan".

Two places, two kunds

The Simhastha is held in two places. The Vaishnava akharas bathe at Ramkund in Nashik, on the Godavari. The Shaiva, or Sannyasi, akharas and the Udasin akharas bathe at Kushavarta Tirtha in Trimbakeshwar, near the source of the Godavari and the Jyotirlinga temple of Trimbakeshwar. The arrangement goes back to the time of the Peshwas.

Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara, the akhara of the Naga Babas, bathes at Trimbakeshwar with the Shaiva akharas. Baba Rampuri, a Shri Mahant of Juna Akhara, was at Trimbakeshwar for the last Simhastha, in 2015.

Why "Simhastha"?

The name comes from Jupiter, Guru, standing in Simha (Leo). The Kumbh Mela returns to each of its four places every twelve years; the last Simhastha here was in 2015. Because Jupiter moves back and forth across Leo, this Simhastha is unusually long, from October 2026 to July 2028.

"…four drops DID fall to earth. They landed at what is now Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik. Every twelve human years, which also happens to be Jupiter’s revolution around the Sun, in each of these four places, and at that time in each place corresponding to the astrological positions that Jupiter, the Sun, and the Moon occupy in the heavens when each drop is spilled, this amrit, this Nectar of Immortality appears. How much? A drop. It’s all you need."Baba Rampuri, The Nectar of Immortality

Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015

Photographs by Baba Rampuri from the last Simhastha: the camps, and the night of the second Shahi Snan at Trimbakeshwar, when the Naga Babas carried Guru Dattatreya, the devata of Juna Akhara, through the crowd before dawn.

Naga Babas surround the garlanded palanquin of Guru Dattatreya on the way to the Shahi Snan, Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015
Naga Babas around Guru Dattatreya's palanquin
Naga Babas carry the silver palki of Guru Dattatreya, decked with marigolds, Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015
Carrying Guru Dattatreya's silver palki
Naga Babas covered in ash and marigold garlands raise their staffs in the procession, Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela, 13 September 2015
Garlanded Naga Babas raise their staffs
Naga Babas with marigold garlands hold their staffs high as the procession moves toward the Shahi Snan, Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015
On the way to the bath
Naga Babas and sadhus gather before dawn for the Shahi Snan at Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015
Gathering before dawn
Naga sadhus in ash and garlands move through the night crowd toward the Kushavarta, Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela, 13 September 2015
Naga sadhus in ash and marigolds
Sadhus with tilak and ash in the crowded procession before dawn, Shahi Snan at Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015
In the procession, before dawn
Sadhus in red and orange walk through the wet street before dawn on the day of the Shahi Snan, Trimbakeshwar, 13 September 2015
Sadhus walk to the snan
Baba Rampuri, Shri Mahant of Juna Akhara, with sadhus on the day of the Shahi Snan, Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela, 13 September 2015
Baba Rampuri, 13 September 2015
Sadhus in saffron sit together in an akhara camp during the 2015 Simhastha Kumbh Mela, 11 September 2015
In an akhara camp, 11 September 2015
Jangams with peacock-feather crowns and cymbals sing for sadhus at an akhara camp during the 2015 Simhastha Kumbh Mela, 12 September 2015
Jangams singing at an akhara camp, 12 September 2015

Watch the Kumbh Mela on rampuri.com

Films and photographs of Juna Akhara at earlier Kumbh Melas, with subtitles.

Sources for the dates: All India Radio (newsonair.gov.in), 31 Oct 2026; PTI, 1 June 2025; Nashik district administration (nashik.gov.in); ETV Bharat; The Print. Bathing dates can be revised by the Kumbh Mela authority; check official announcements before you travel.