Lakhs of devotees and Sadhus visited the temple town of Kumbakonam to have a holy dip during the 10-day Mahamaham, the Kumbh Mela festival of the South. This festival, which is celebrated every 12 years, came to an end on Monday.

More than five lakh people participated on the final day of the festival, which began with flag hoisting at various temples on February 13.

All the rivers of India are believed to meet at the tank on this day and a purification bath at the temple tank on Monday is considered equal to the combined dips in all the holy rivers of the country, including Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sarayu, Godavari, Mahanadhi, Narmada, Pavoshnl and Cauvery.

The tank has 20 wells named after holy Indian rivers, which is called as “Theerthavari”. On this day, it is believed that taking a dip in Mahamaham tank would absolve humans of all their sins.

Even Sadhus from the Himalayas and Varanasi had arrived at Kumbakonam to take part on the concluding day of the festival.

This Festival occurs when the sun is in the Zodiac sign of Aquarius (Khumbha), Jupiter transits Leo (Simha) and the Moon is in conjunction with the constellation Maham.

Officials from Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, who organised the festival, said that about 40 lakh people have taken a holy dip in the temple tank since February 13.