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HARIDWAR, INDIA, April 13, 2005: Thousands of Hindu devotees today heralded the traditional new year and a harvest festival by bathing in the holy Ganges river. Hindus consider a bath at Haridwar in northern India, one of the holiest spots along the Ganges’ 2,000-km (1,250- mile) journey from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, as most auspicious and millions each year throng its banks performing special prayers and rituals. In most of northern India, the Baisakhi festival celebrates the ripening of the Rabi or winter crop, heralding a time of great joy for farmers who thank the Gods for their bounty and seek their blessings for a successful harvest and trading. “Baisakhi at Haridwar is most auspicious and people from all over come here to offer their thanks and seek blessing ahead of the harvest. It is also a time to remember our ancestors. This is a time of great significance. It gives me great happiness when I enter this city,” said Rampyara Chokker, a farmer from northern Punjab state. The spring harvest festival is celebrated around the same days, depending on local calendars and regions, across the entire length and breadth of India.

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