5m Hindus plunge into polluted Ganges
Pastor Dale Morgan
5m Hindus plunge into polluted Ganges*
By Peter Foster in New Delhi
Last Updated: 2:04am GMT 16/01/2007
In pictures: millions gather at the not so 'holy' Ganges
Some five million Hindu devotees plunged into the chilly waters of the
Ganges yesterday, despite concerns that Hinduism's sacred river had
become too polluted to bathe in safely.
Clutching tridents, chanting mantras and shouting the battle cries of
Lord Shiva, ordinary devotees and ash-clad sadhus, or holy men, entered
the river at Allahabad, in Uttar Pradesh during the Ardh Kumbh festival.
Hindu holy men bathing in the Ganges, Ardh Kumbh festival
Naga Sadhus, Hindu holy men, bathing in the Ganges during the Ardh Kumbh
festival
Some 70 million pilgrims will attend the three-month festival but
yesterday was the single biggest bathing day after astrologers declared
it a particularly auspicious "royal bathing day".
The festival, a smaller version of the Kumbh Mela which takes place
every 12 years, has been marred by controversy over the Indian
government's failure to tackle pollution levels in the river.
Several sadhus threatened to drown themselves in protest at the "ill
treatment of the Ganges, our sacred mother" which remains heavily
polluted by chemicals, farm pesticides and sewage despite £150 million
of government spending since 1987.
Confrontation was averted, however, when the local government "flushed"
the river with millions of gallons fresh water from a dam upstream.
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For pilgrims, the "holy dip" is the fulfilment of a lifelong spiritual
ambition and many have braved cold night temperatures by sleeping in the
open for a chance to enter the swirling waters at dawn.
"I am here to wash away my sins - the sins I accumulated in my life so
that I can die as a pious soul," said Hari Om Sharma, 68, from Bihar.