If India had first attracted the attention of the West as the land of temples and sadhus, her tirthas and melas, pulling huge tides of humanity from far and near by their religio-cultural power also captured the imagination of the world in a big way. It is a pity that Prayāga, traditionally the king of the tirthas and the site of the world's largest fair could not be given an authentic cultural history of its own before the present work.
This work essays the difficult task of distinguishing the religio-cultural lore of Prayāga from the outrageous domain of mysteries and wonders, which it was initially consigned to, and also the gazetteer-like uncritical approach of numerous journalistic works that do not rise above the level of a popular guide.
The topical rather than exhaustive approach of the work, taking into account all the aspects of Prayāga's religio-cultural personality preserves the spirit and depth of genuine research. The bite is not too big to be chewed. It props the questions of sacred geography, sub-tirthas, the historicity of Aksayavata (the eternal fig tree), and religious suicide, besides being a critical and authenticated account of the ritual practices and a source-based history of the Kumbha Mela, including its various dimensions.
The deep textual study, fieldwork, and handling of the relevant archaeo-epigraphic material make the book both stimulating and instructive. The inclusion of evocative and rare illustrations further adds to the use-value of the endeavour.
