Hindus defy pollution to bathe in Ganges festival

ALLAHABAD – Hindu holy men brandishing spears and tridents charged into the sacred Ganges yesterday, after threats to boycott the world’s largest religious festival over pollution failed to dent devotees’ fervour.

The ritual bathing kicked off the most auspicious day yet in the six-week Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Pitcher festival, where tens of millions of pilgrims gather to wash away their sins and free themselves from the earthly cycle of reincarnation. Chanting battle cries to Lord Shiva, holy men dressed in saffron robes and other naked and ash-smeared “sadhus” ran into the river to the sound of drums for the first “Royal Bath” as dawn broke over the Ganges.”The water is dirtier than last time.It’s like neglecting my mother.This river is the source of all life,” Naga Baba Triveni Puri, a naked holy man whose dreadlocked hair had not been cut in 18 years, said as he smoked cannabis after a dip.After thousands of holy men had threatened to boycott a festival that records show is more than 2 000 years old, authorities last week released fresh water from an upstream dam to clear up what many locals said was filthy and greenish water.Industrial discharges, sewage, pesticides and the rotting remains of dead bodies have increased pollution levels in the Ganges over the years despite government promises to clean-up India’s most sacred river.Families from across India gathered well before dawn in Allahabad by the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mythical third river, the Saraswati, to bathe and speed their way to the attainment of nirvana or the afterlife.Thousands of pilgrims fought for space on the crowded, sloping river banks, many filling metal pots with the sacred water to take home for ill or dying relatives.Some 15 000 police stood guard and 50 000 officials kept control of crowds expected to top five million on Monday.”Do not dispose of dead bodies in the river,” warned one poster by the environment ministry.”The Ganges is so dirty — how can you wash your hands in this?” proclaimed graffiti on an old fort overlooking the river.Indian holy man Hari Chaitanya had led a campaign to clean the Ganges and had taken his case to court.Nampa-ReutersChanting battle cries to Lord Shiva, holy men dressed in saffron robes and other naked and ash-smeared “sadhus” ran into the river to the sound of drums for the first “Royal Bath” as dawn broke over the Ganges.”The water is dirtier than last time.It’s like neglecting my mother.This river is the source of all life,” Naga Baba Triveni Puri, a naked holy man whose dreadlocked hair had not been cut in 18 years, said as he smoked cannabis after a dip.After thousands of holy men had threatened to boycott a festival that records show is more than 2 000 years old, authorities last week released fresh water from an upstream dam to clear up what many locals said was filthy and greenish water.Industrial discharges, sewage, pesticides and the rotting remains of dead bodies have increased pollution levels in the Ganges over the years despite government promises to clean-up India’s most sacred river.Families from across India gathered well before dawn in Allahabad by the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mythical third river, the Saraswati, to bathe and speed their way to the attainment of nirvana or the afterlife.Thousands of pilgrims fought for space on the crowded, sloping river banks, many filling metal pots with the sacred water to take home for ill or dying relatives.Some 15 000 police stood guard and 50 000 officials kept control of crowds expected to top five million on Monday.”Do not dispose of dead bodies in the river,” warned one poster by the environment ministry.”The Ganges is so dirty — how can you wash your hands in this?” proclaimed graffiti on an old fort overlooking the river.Indian holy man Hari Chaitanya had led a campaign to clean the Ganges and had taken his case to court.Nampa-Reuters