Welcome to the world's 'largest holy gathering'

Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children enter the fast-moving waters of the river. The holy ritual begins. Welcome to Kumbh Mela, touted as the largest religious gathering in the world. The festival, which is celebrated every three years, rotates among four Indian cities. About three million people will bathe in the river on 10 auspicious days over the next three months when devout Hindus believe a dip will cleanse them of their sins and free them from the cycle of life and rebirth. This is the first time in 12 years that the festival has been hosted by the northern city of Hardwar. Although a dip in the Ganges at Har-ki-pauri—the main bathing ghat in Hardwar—is considered auspicious any time of the year, during the special bathing days of the Kumbh, devotees swarm like ants for the special dip. According to Hindu belief, a dip in the Ganges is supposed to cleanse away one's sins and offer freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Braving the cold weather and the chilly waters, devotees took a dip in the Ganges on Jan 15 on the occasion of Mauni Amawasya and the solar eclipse. Thousands of police personnel, equipped with metal detectors and binoculars, kept a watch on the proceedings, urging devotees to keep moving so as to give everyone a chance to take the holy dip. A group of Indonesian Hindus from Bali also took a dip in the holy water. Imade Subawa, the group’s leader, says they are here to respect their ancestors and pray for peace in the world. "We are coming down here to pray, to respect our great ancestors, hoping for the peace of the world and from here, from Haridwar, we bring the holy Teerth Ganga which is the holy water of the Ganga to Bali and to share with others for the peace of the world," Subawa said. The Kumbh may be a mega religious festival, but it attracts people for other reasons as well. Tourists and photographers gather at the Kumbh to soak in the colour and the religious fervour on the ghats. The festival is already a topic of discussion on the worldwide Web, especially social networking sites such as Facebook. At this ancient festival, technology is coming in handy for the organisers. They've set up a hi-tech media centre with live up-linking facilities for television and Internet broadcasts. The organizers are also offering the live signal of the main bathing days besides the morning and evening prayers at the ghat daily for the period of the Kumbh Mela, which runs until April 28. The Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, derives its name from a mythical fight over a pitcher of holy nectar. According to Hindu mythology, gods and demons waged a war over the nectar they needed to achieve immortality and victory. Four drops spilled, landing in the four cities that host the festival: Allahabad, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythic Saraswati rivers; Nasik, in the western state of Maharashtra; Ujjain, in central India; and Hardwar. – AP