Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/85

Rh rivers and bathing places on the seashore are resorted to on this occasion; but the Hindu who takes his bath in the holy waters of the Mahamakham tank at Kumbakonam is considered to have reaped the beneficial effects of several baths in all the holy waters of India. Such being the belief of the Hindus an account of the origin of the Mahamakham festival may be interesting. The Mahamakham tank, which is the biggest one in Kumbakonam, is situated in the south-eastern portion of the town and is about a mile to the west of the South Indian Railway Station there. In shape it is a nine-sided polygon with five re-entrant angles. Two very old Siva temples dedicated to Abhimukteswara and Visvanatha are situated respectively on its eastern and northern sides, and streets run on the other two sides. The legend of the tank, as disclosed by the Sthalapurana of Kumbakonam, runs as follows:—Under the orders of Siva, Brahma collected the essence of all the sacred waters in the world in a pot and mixed with it the nectar (devamrita) also. He most carefully secured this pot on the top of the mountain Meru. But during the great deluge, when the