Source: www.expressindia.com
HARIDWAR, INDIA, January 14, 2010: Braving the winter chill, thousands of devotees took their dip into the holy Ganga in the first days Maha Kumbha Mela, considered the worlds largest religious congregation, that takes place once every 12 years.
With the sun rise, devotees who had started lining up along the streets of Haridwar leading to various ghats, start taking the dip. Men, women and children outnumbered the sadhus, who are expected to throng the city only after January 26, as the official entrance of the akharas will begin then. The first shahi snan, royal bath, is scheduled for February 12 when the akhara chiefs also join the devotees.
The Kumbh Mela goes back to the Vedic ages and, according to Hindu mythology, the places where Kumbh is observed are the ones where four drops of amrit, nectar, fell from the kumbh, pot, at the four places when Lord Vishnu’s vahana, Garuda, was escaping from the demons who also wanted the nectar. Belief is that the river Ganga also acquires certain properties of the nectar during Kumbh.
Spread over an area of 130 sq km, the Kumbh has been divided into 12 zones and 32 sectors with heavy presence of police personnel. Thirty-four police stations and 42 makeshift posts have been set up besides the 36 temporary fire stations.