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10 million expected to bathe at Hindu Festival, Kumbh Mela

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January 14, 2001 

ALLAHABAD-- (AP) - Ten million pilgrims are expected to bathe in the Ganges River on Sunday in a ritual to wash away their sins, say festival organizers who are already busy reuniting families and friends lost in the teeming crowds along the river bank.

The promised giant television screens that were to flash pictures of missing persons across the 30-square-kilometer (18-square-mile) festival grounds have not appeared. Officials use loudspeakers to broadcast the names of missing persons in various languages, and some simply walk around with the lost persons, searching for their families.

With an expected 10 million people expected to try to bathe in the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers on Sunday - the second of six most auspicious days during the 43-day Kumbh Mela, officials are worried about fights, crime and stampedes.

Sunday is the day that large groups of holy men and sects of warrior priests plan to bathe in the river. In the past the groups have fought over being first into the water or at the spot where the rivers converge. Getting to that spot requires use of hundreds of boats lining the shore, leading to chaos if tussles arise.

Administration officials said the two main groups had reached an agreement on when the priests would get their turn to bathe.

The holiest time for bathing begins at 5:15 a.m. local time (2345 GMT) and continues till 6 p.m. (1330 GMT).

The bathing ritual would begin with the high priests leading a pre-dawn procession to the bathing banks at the edge of the water. Warrior priests will lead the procession, their swords bared and held high, followed by holy men riding on colorfully painted elephants and richly caparisoned horses, accompanied by folk musicians.

At the most auspicious moment, the first of the priests would take a dip, followed by their followers.

Fearing stampedes or a terrorist attack at the Kumbh Mela site where millions have gathered, the local administration has further tightened security arrangements. "A tight security net has been thrown around the Mela grounds," the festival director, Jivesh Nandan said on Saturday.

At least 700 people got lost on the first bathing day, Jan. 9, said the volunteers, many of them taking a month's leave from their jobs to help reunite families at the festival.

One pilgrim, who uses only the name Apoorva, said he didn't have words to express his gratitude for the two volunteers who reunited him and his wife with his elderly parents at 2 a.m. Friday night, after they were separated in the throngs.

"Dr. A.K Pathak and Vinod Kumar Rai searched for my parents for four hours from this corner of the confluence to the other side of the Ganges River, a 20 kilometer (12-mile) stretch at an almost freezing temperature of 5 degrees C," said Apoorva. "They contacted us to inform us and took us to them. This is dedication for a cause. It's amazing."

The lost-and-found camp is staffed by volunteers from the Indian Railways Guides, policemen and other helpers. A loudspeaker placed every 50 meters (yards) throughout the festival grounds blares announcements of the lost, interspersed with religious songs and directions for the devotees.

The big TV screens "would greatly help us," said A.K. Pathak, a volunteer for several years. In the wee morning hours, despite the freezing temperatures, there was a look of satisfaction on his face as he united an 11-year-old girl with her mother. "I had to walk a distance of more than six kilometers (3.7 miles) to bring them together," he said.