Millions of Hindus Due for Holy Bath in North India

[Guest guest]

LUCKNOW (1 January 2007, Reuters): About 70 million Hindus are

expected to converge in northern India over the next six weeks for a

dip in the holy Ganges river to wash away their sins in what may be

one of the largest gatherings of people on earth.

 

The event, in the holy city of Allahabad, is called the "Ardh Kumbh

Mela" or the Half-Pitcher Festival and falls midway between the "Maha

Kumbh Mela" or the Great Pitcher Festival, celebrated once every 12 years.

 

Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges during the festivals

cleanses them of sin, speeding the way to the end of reincarnation in

this world and the attainment of nirvana, or the afterlife.

 

Although millions of devotees from around the country and abroad are

expected to visit Allahabad through the 42-day event, organisers said

the biggest crowds were expected on seven special days, including the

opening on Wednesday.

 

"Making arrangements and ensuring logistics is a gigantic task as the

gathering is by far the largest convergence of human beings on earth,"

said Pragyan Ram Misra, a top government official responsible for

organising the festival.

 

While the opening day on Jan. 3 was expected to draw about five

million people, the largest crowd of about 25 million was expected on

"Mauni Amavasya" on Jan. 19, he said.

 

Allahabad in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh is one of four

spots where Garuda, the winged steed of Hindu god Vishnu, is said to

have rested during a titanic battle with demons over a pitcher of

divine nectar of immortality.

 

Allahabad is also the site of the holy "sangam" or confluence of the

Ganges, the Yamuna and a third, underground mythical river called the

Saraswati, named after the Hindu goddess of learning.

 

Garuda's flight lasted 12 divine days, or 12 years of mortal time,

leading to the celebration of the "Maha Kumbh Mela" every 12 years.

 

The midway point between two such celebrations is also considered

highly auspicious as the position of the sun and the moon are the same

as during the "Maha Kumbh", mythology experts said.

 

The "Maha Kumbh Mela" in 1989 attracted 15 million pilgrims and the

Guinness Book of Records dubbed it the largest gathering of human

beings for a single purpose. It was only bettered by the festival in

2001 which drew between 50 and 70 million.

 

"This city has the unique distinction of being right at the centre of

the earth and rays of the sun fall directly on this spot and generate

unique minerals in the water at the holy 'sangam'," said Ram Naresh

Tripathi, a Allahabad-based scholar of Hindu mythology.

 

"So a dip at the confluence goes a long way in ridding a person of all

that is bad — sin and disease," he said.

 

SOURCE: Khaleej Times Online, Dubai, UAE

URL: http://tinyurl.com/y3deba