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| Friday, 25 July 2003 |
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Security tight for major Indian Hindu festival BOMBAY, Thursday (Reuters) India has deployed 10,000 police and installed hidden cameras to protect 10 million Hindu pilgrims expected to attend the start of one of the country's largest religious festivals next week. The Kumbh Mela, or Grand Pitcher festival, in western India comes after six people died in a militant attack on another Hindu pilgrimage in Kashmir this week. "We have taken full precautions against terror attacks," senior local official Vinay Pathak told Reuters. The Kumbh rotates among four holy sites every two to three years and this year is in the twin temple towns of Nasik and Trimbakeshwar, more than 200 kms (125 miles) from Bombay. The high point of the festival is at dawn on August 17, when thousands of ash-smeared sadhus, or holy men, and other devotees will bathe in the Godavari River in groups of 10,000 at a time to wash away their sins in the first "Shahi Snan", or royal bath. |
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