Pushkaram is an Indian festival dedicated to worshiping of rivers. It is celebrated at shrines along the banks of 12 major sacred rivers in India, in the form of ancestor worship, spiritual discourses, devotional music and cultural programs. The celebration happens annually, once in 12 years along each river. Each river is associated with a zodiac sign, and the river for each year's festival is based on which sign Jupiter is in at that time.

The Zodiac signs, Rivers and the next Pushkaram date are as follows

Pushkaram celebrations include the reverence of ancestors, spiritual discourses, devotional music and cultural programs. The devotees engage in activities such as snana (bath in the river), dana (charity), japa (recitation of mantras), archana and dhyana (meditation).

The Krishna river is the fourth largest river, which is about 1,300 kilometers long. It originates from Mahabaleswar of Maharashtra and exits into the Bay of Bengal at Hamsaladeevi. The river flows through Karnataka and ends its journey in Andhra Pradesh before reaching its final destination of Bay of Bengal. Most of the Krishna River is connected with Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

Krishna Pushkaralu is a festival of River Krishna which normally occurs once in 12 years. The Pushkaralu is observed for a period of 12 days from the time of entry of Jupiter into Virgo (Kanya rasi).

Vijayawada is located on the banks of the Krishna River. The Krishna Pushkaralu will be held from August 12th to 23rd. During the celebrations, devotees will take a dip in the sacred Krishna River to wash away their sins.

The legend says, there lived a Brahmin in a village, who has done severe penance towards Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva got pleased on his devotion and dedication and granted a boon, with a power to purify the holy rivers. Thenceforth he was known as Pushkar (the one who nourishes). While traveling from one zodiac sign to another, Brihaspati aka Jupiter requested Pushkar to make the 12 sacred rivers holy.

The festival lasts as long as Jupiter remains in the corresponding zodiac sign. Major crowds will throng during the first 12 days. The first 12 days when the Jupiter enters the zodiac sign and the last 12 days when it exits the zodiac sign are considered to be most auspicious. The first twelve days are known as Adi pushkaram, and the last twelve days are called Anthya Pushkaram. It is believed that during the above period of twenty-four days, Pushkar will be traveling with Jupiter as it moves from one Zodiac sign to another and will be making any river holy.

Krishna Pushkaralu commences on 12th August 2016 in the morning.

Start Date: 12th August 2016

End Date: 23rd August 2016

No of days Celebrated: 12

More than 3.5 crore people are expected to take a holy dip over the next two weeks at the Krishna River Festival and the Andhra Pradesh government is pulling all stops to make it memorable. Important roads that once wore a dirty look, have been spruced up to welcome people from across the world for the 12-day festival.

Shruti, a student of school of planning and architecture said, "We tried to show different aspects of Vijayawada. So people coming to Pushkaralu festival can know what Vijayawada is - like Mangalagiri saree, Kondapalli toys. Also important structure like Prakasam barrage."

Police and local authorities have made elaborate arrangements to ensure safety at the ghats. The prime focus of the planning is to regulate the flow of pilgrims and that an unmanageable crowd does not build up at the ghat where the largest number of pilgrims and VVIPs are expected to take the holy dip.

The state government has deployed over 17,000 police personnel for security and crowd control. The four main Pushkar ghats have been divided into 22 sub-ghats and officials have been deployed for round-the-clock duty. More than 1300 CCTV cameras have been installed and command and control rooms are set up. The highly-advanced cameras can read the approximate number of people at the location and thus help crowd control.

“People can go to any ghat of their choice. We will ensure free flow but if there is over-crowding at any ghat, we will enforce restrictions or make diversions. The focus is to control the flow of crowd,” Commissioner of Police Vijayawada Goutam Sawang said.

State Social Welfare Minister Ravella Kishore Babu said, “it's a big tourist attraction for our city. We have made very good arrangements for pilgrims."

By Premji