The ‘political’ Kumbh begins at Prayagraj with Shahi Snan

Millions of Hindu devotees, led by the naked ash-smeared Naga Sadhus, plunged into the waters of river Ganga to wash away their sins at the beginning of the 55-day religious festival that began in Pryagraj on Tuesday with the first auspicious ‘Shahi Snan’.

"We are expecting over 1.5 crore people today who will take a dip in river. Almost 45 lakh people have already taken a dip and the number may grow by evening,” Vijay Kiran Anand, in-charge of Kumbh Mela told National Herald.

Over 15 crore people are expected to take a dip at Sangam– the confluence of three rivers - holy Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati-during the 55-day Ardh-Kumbh which has been publicised as ‘Kumbh’ mela that started on January 15 and will continue till March 3. There are six auspicious days, depending on alignment of stars, when Hindu devotees would take a dip in the holy river.

A great crowd of devotees descended on the river bed of Ganges on Tuesday morning – some had taken bath while others were waiting patiently for their turn. Men in their underpants, women in their sarees and children, some of them naked, took plunge into the ice-cold water to cleanse their body and soul of sin.

The biggest attraction of the Shahi Snan were as usual the Naga Sadhus. Thousands of them just wearing marigold garlands raced to the river amid loud religious chants.

An applause rose from tens of thousands of pilgrims waiting behind barricades as religious heads of different Hindu monasteries (akharas) reached the ghats. Some rode on silver chariot while some were even carried on silver palanquins. Marching bands accompanied them as they initiated the process of Shahi Snan. The head of the Monasteries threw flowers on the Hindu devotees as they shouted Har Har Gange (Long live Ganges).

"Sadhus of Mahanirvani akhara took the lead in taking a dip in Ganga. The procession was led by young naked sadhus who even displayed their marshal art," Anand said.

According to Hindu mythology, the Kumbh Mela celebrates the victory of gods over demons in a furious battle over nectar. The myth says the gods retrieved the nectar by churning a massive ocean of milk.

As one of the gods fled with the pitcher of nectar across the skies, it spilled on four places – Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar – where Kumbh mela is organised four times every 12 years. Hindus believe that sins accumulated in the past and present lives cause the cycle of death and rebirth until they are cleansed of these sins and achieve moksha. If they bathe at Ganges on the most auspicious days of this fair, it is believed that they can get rid of their sins.

Thousands of pilgrims on Monday night slept on the vast festival grounds spread over in 3600 hectares while many huddled together under trees to fight the cold.

The vast Kumbh Mela ground has been turned into a tent city. Over 1.25 crore small tarpaulin tents –green, blue and brown in color – have come up. Some 1.22 lakh makeshift toilets have been erected, while 10,000 sweepers have been deployed to keep this make-shift tent-town clean.

Several squads of mounted police regulated the flow of pilgrims to and from the bathing ghats. About 50,000 policemen have been deployed to keep order at the festival.

There are 22 bathing ghats spread over the 3 km-long river bed. Two of these ghats are reserved for Akharas and their shahi snans where commoners would not be allowed to take the holy dip.