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Millions of Hindus Engage in Massive Cleansing Ritual to Wash Away Their Sins
A Sadhu or holy man bathes with others like him at the Sangham or the confluence of the the Yamuna and Ganges rivers during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 14, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims led by naked, ash-covered holy men streamed into the sacred river Ganges on Monday at the start of the world's biggest religious festival. The Kumbh Mela in the Indian town of Allahabad will see up to 100 million worshippers gather over the next 55 days to take a ritual bath in the holy waters, believed to cleanse sins and bestow blessings. Before daybreak on Monday, a day chosen by astrologers as auspicious, hundreds of gurus, some brandishing swords and tridents, ran into the swirling and freezing waters for the first bath, signalling the start of events. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Millions of Hindus Engage in Massive Cleansing Ritual to Wash Away Their Sins

ALLAHABAD, India (TheBlaze/AP) -- Millions of devout Hindus led by naked ascetics with ash smeared on their bodies plunged into the frigid waters of India's holy Ganges River on Monday in a ritual they believe can wash away their sins. The religious spectacle, starkly different from the method that other faith's use to cope with personal sin, is a massive gathering.

The ceremony in the northern city of Allahabad took place on the most auspicious day of the Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, one of the world's largest religious gatherings that lasts 55 days. The festival continues until March 10.

A naga sadhu bathes in the waters of the holy Ganges river during the auspicious bathing day of Makar Sankranti of the Maha Kumbh Mela on January 14, 2013 in Allahabad, India. The Maha Kumbh Mela, believed to be the largest religious gathering on earth is held every 12 years on the banks of Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. The Kumbh Mela alternates between the cities of Nasik, Allahabad, Ujjain and Haridwar every three years. The Maha Kumbh Mela celebrated at the holy site of Sangam in Allahabad, is the largest and holiest, celebrated over 55 days, it is expected to attract over 100 million people. Credit: Getty Images

Top festival official Mani Prasad Mishra said nearly 3 million people had bathed by late morning and 11 million were expected to enter the frigid water by the day's end.

Over 110 million people are expected to take a dip at the Sangam, the place where three rivers -- the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati -- come together at the edge of this North Indian city. There are six auspicious bathing days, decided by the alignment of stars, when the Hindu devout bathe to wash away their sins and free themselves from the cycle of death and rebirth.

A sea of humanity assembled on the river bank as people waited patiently for their turn to step into the water. Men in underpants, women in saris and children -- naked and clothed -- chanted from Hindu scriptures as they walked into the icy-cold water.

The bathing process was initiated by religious heads of different Hindu monasteries who reached the bathing points, called ghats, riding silver chariots. Some were carried on silver palanquins, accompanied by marching bands. Applause rose from tens of thousands of pilgrims waiting behind barricades as the religious heads set off the ceremony.

A Sadhu or holy man bathes with others like him at the Sangham or the confluence of the the Yamuna and Ganges rivers during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 14, 2013. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

The heads of the monasteries threw flowers on the devotees as they shouted "har har gangey," or Long Live Ganges.

The biggest spectacle was that of the Naga sadhus, or ascetics, who raced to the river wearing only marigold garlands in a cacophony of religious chants.

About 50,000 policemen have been deployed to keep order at the festival, fearing everything from terrorist attacks to the ever-present danger of stampedes of pilgrims. Several squads policemen on horseback regulated the flow of pilgrims to and from the bathing ghats.

According to Hindu mythology, the Kumbh Mela celebrates the victory of gods over demons in a furious battle over a nectar that would give them immortality.

Thousands of Hindu devotees gather at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river on Makar Sankranti, the first day of the Maha Kumbh Mela, in Allahabad, early Monday morning, Jan. 14, 2013. Millions of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take part in the large religious congregation, which falls every 12 years and lasts for a period of over a month, during which devotees wash themselves in the waters of the Ganges believing that it washes away their sins and ends the process of reincarnation. Credit: AP

As one of the gods fled with a pitcher of the nectar across the skies, it spilled on four Indian towns -- Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar. The Kumbh Mela is organized four times every 12 years in those towns. Hindus believe that sins accumulated in past and current lives require them to continue the cycle of death and rebirth until they are cleansed. If they bathe at Ganges on the most auspicious day of the festival, believers say they can rid themselves of their sins.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims slept the night on the vast festival grounds in more than 1 million tents -- green, blue, and brown -- erected all over, while many huddled together under trees. Some 20,000 makeshift toilets have been have been erected, while 10,000 sweepers have been deployed to keep this make-shift tent town clean.

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Billy Hallowell

Billy Hallowell

Billy Hallowell is a digital TV host and interviewer for Faithwire and CBN News and the co-host of CBN’s "Quick Start Podcast."