Prayagraj lies at Sangam or the Confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers. It is believed to be the second oldest city in India and plays a central role in Hindu scriptures.
The Mughal Emperor Akbar named it Illahabad, or the city of God, which the British changed to Allahabad. Mark Twain, the American author, referred to it as Godville. Recently, Allahabad has been officially renamed as Prayagraj. It became the capital of the North-Western Provinces in 1858 and was the capital of India for a day.
It is crowned in ancient scriptures as ‘Prayag’ or ‘Teertharaj’ and is considered the holiest of pilgrimage centres of India. It is situated at the confluence of three rivers- Ganga, Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati. The meeting point is known as Triveni and is very sacred to Hindus. The Kumbh held in every six years and Mahakumbh in every 12 years at Prayagraj (Sangam) are the largest gatherings of pilgrims on this earth.
Historically, the city has been a witness to many important events in India’s freedom struggle such as emergence of the first Indian National Congress in 1885, the beginning of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence movement in 1920.