Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/9

 Hindu Fair at Ramnagar, near Benares 'J he Mela, or religions fair, is an institution of great antiquity in India, and rast multitudes of people, mostly pilgrims, flock from -I'arious parts of Hindustan to the various places -inhere such fairs happen to be held. Many a city o;.-es much of its financial prosperity to the attendance at the Mela. .It Allahabad, for example, it is estimated that a million pilgrims annually attend the fair in the springtime; the same is true of the sacred city of liciiarcs, inhere opportunities for purchase and sale in the em- t>or,mii combine i^'ith the sanctity of the holy temples to swell the number u] the pilgrim throng bent on their pious mission.