01Gajendra and the crocodile
The Bhagavata Purana tells of Gajendra, king of elephants, seized by a crocodile while bathing, who fought until his strength failed and then raised a lotus in his trunk and called on Narayana. Bhagwan came on Garuda and freed him with the Sudarshana. Sonepur holds that the struggle took place at the Konhara Ghat here, and that Hari and Hara both appeared to the devotee. So the linga in the temple is worshipped as Harihar, Vishnu and Shiva together, and Shaivas and Vaishnavas offer at the same altar.
02The Kartik fair
On Kartik Purnima pilgrims bathe at the confluence and then climb to Harihar Nath. The fair that follows, the Harihar Kshetra Mela, runs for weeks. For centuries elephants, horses and cattle were traded here, and old accounts speak of the fair as a meeting point of the whole Gangetic plain. The elephant trade has been stopped by law, but the bath, the darshan and the fair continue.
Sonepur is across the Ganga from Patna by the Gandhi Setu or the rail-road bridge; the mela begins on Kartik Purnima.
