Millions take the ritual bath in freezing Ganges

Allahabad: Millions of Hindu devotees plunged joyfully into the frigid Ganges River on Sunday to cleanse away their sins on an auspicious day at a huge religious festival in northern India.

Braving near-zero temperatures, the pilgrims swarmed into the sacred waters in Allahabad at the confluence of the revered Ganges and the Yamuna rivers for the Ardh Kumbh Mela, one of the largest gatherings of humanity on earth.

Sunday and Monday, two of the 45-day festival's six auspicious bathing days, mark Makar Sankranti, the transition of the sun into the tropic of Capricorn.

"This river is enchanting. You cannot stop. I dip into the water and it's a top-of-the-world feeling," said Mahendra Verma, a building contractor who was standing shivering in his underpants.

"At first one feels cold, but the feeling vanishes with one dip."

Pilgrims began bathing in the murky river waters early on Sunday, hoping to break the endless cycle of reincarnation.

"Tens of thousands have already started taking baths [yesterday]. In next two days over five million devotees are expected to take baths," said festival organiser P.N. Mishra.

Mishra said about 2.5 million pilgrims had already taken a dip since the festival began January 3.

Another bather, Kusma Devi, in her early sixties, said she had walked almost 25km from her village to reach Allahabad, some 400km from the Indian capital New Delhi.

"I always wanted to take dip in the Ganges during Makar Sankranti. I convinced my fellow villagers and, as we did not have enough money to afford the bus ride, we decided to walk," she said as she smiled.

"Just a glimpse of Ma Ganga [mother Ganges] and our tiredness is gone."

After bathing, pilgrims kneeled at the water's edge to perform prayers, lighting incense sticks and tossing orange marigold flowers into the water as they asked for salvation.

Flags of different Hindu sects fluttered above the pilgrims' camp of 62,000 tents as the hordes of worshippers washed in the river waters, where a drop of the nectar of immortality is believed to have fallen.

The festival commemorates a mythical battle between deities and demons over a pitcher of the nectar of immortality.

It draws old and young, rich and poor from across the country as well as foreigners, many of them devout followers of Hinduism.