Pilgrims flock to Ganges for world's biggest festival
Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims led by naked, ash-covered
holy men streamed into the sacred river Ganges on Monday at the start of
the world's biggest religious festival.
The Kumbh Mela in the Indian town of Allahabad will see up to 100
million worshippers gather over the next 55 days to take a ritual bath
in the holy waters, believed to cleanse sins and bestow blessings.
Before daybreak on Monday, a day chosen by astrologers as auspicious,
hundreds of gurus, some brandishing swords and tridents, ran into the
swirling and freezing waters for the first bath, signalling the start of
events.
Assorted dreadlocked holymen, seers and self-proclaimed saints from
all over the country have assembled for the colourful and chaotic
spectacle that offers a rare glimpse of the dizzying range of Indian
spiritualism.
"I am ecstatic. When I enter the Ganges I feel so happy, it's a
feeling I can't explain," said Mokshanand, a heavily bearded guru who
emerged shivering from the water in a small pair of saffron-coloured
underpants.
"Our biggest wish is that there is peace and that people should look
after each other," a member of the Naga Sadhus, a devout, fierce and
famously nude sect of followers of the Hindu god Shiva, told AFP.
For most ordinary Indians, the Kumbh Mela is a religious holiday
enjoyed in an almost carnival atmosphere, where prayers and blessings
are offered and sought alongside family or friends camping together at
the vast festival site.
The hardships of being squeezed in the crowds, enduring endless
whistling and barked orders from thousands of policemen and even
catching a cold in the chilly January weather are seen as a price worth
paying for a dip.
"I was a bit reluctant to go in at first because of the cold, but I
was pushed into the river by the mass of people," Indu Bala Dhawan, a
70-year-old grandmother from western Punjab, told AFP.
"I yelled at first but I'm very happy now." The Kumbh Mela takes
place every 12 years in Allahabad, in northern Uttar Pradesh state, with
smaller but similar events every three years in other locations around
India.
It has its origins in Hindu mythology, which describes how a few
drops of the nectar of immortality fell on the four places that host the
festival -- Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.
For men like Ram Krishna Verma, a 42-year-old farmer from the state
of Chhattisgarh, who has travelled some 700 kilometres (430 miles), it
is a time of solemn duty as he has come to scatter the ashes of his late
mother.
"She died two months ago," he told AFP. "This is the final resting
place." The "Mother Ganges" is worshipped as a god and is seen as both
the giver and taker of life. Most devotees dunk their heads under the
water, some drink it and others bottle it and take it home as gifts.
Police expect 250,000 people on Monday with 20 million anticipated on
February 15, the most auspicious day. Overall, organisers are counting
on about 100 million coming, the same number as in 2001.
The management of the festival requires a monumental effort -- and a
budget of 16 trillion rupees ($290 million) -- but officials say
everything is in place for a safe and successful event. Senior state
police officer Arun Kumar said the biggest concern was crowd control and
the 12,000 officers on duty would be monitoring to guard against
stampedes -- a frequent and deadly occurrence at Indian religious
festivals. Organisers have set up 35,000 toilets, 14 medical centres,
22,000 street lights, 150 kilometres (93 miles) of temporary roads, 18
bridges, and new sewage facilities.
AFP
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