Unfazed devotees shrug off stampede at India mega-festival
The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj
The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj
PRAYAGRAJ (AFP) — Throngs of devotees at the world’s biggest religious gathering bathed in Indian rivers on Thursday, undeterred by a stampede a day earlier that killed at least 30 people.
The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, but has a record of deadly crowd incidents.
Wednesday’s pre-dawn disaster, which saw a surging crowd spill out of a police cordon and trample bystanders, prompted some spooked pilgrims to leave the festival.
But many more were still arriving in the stampede’s aftermath to participate in what they said was a matter of religious obligation.
“We’ve obviously heard about the stampede,” 21-year-old Naveen Pradhan, who arrived at the festival with his family hours after the disaster, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“But this is a holy thing, a religious thing, something we should do as Hindus, and my family wouldn’t have missed this no matter what.”
The six-week Kumbh Mela is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and Wednesday marked one of the holiest days of the festival, coinciding with an alignment of the Solar System’s planets.
Despite the early morning disaster, saffron-clad holy men continued with the day’s rituals, leading millions into a sin-cleansing dip by the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
More than 10 million others immersed themselves in the waters between midnight and midday on Thursday, according to organizers.
“The journey was challenging — the trains were packed, the train stations were packed,” pharmacist Padmabati Dam, who traveled more than 1,000 kilometers to reach the festival, told AFP.
“We were tired after such a long journey but as soon as we took a dip in the river we just felt so fresh and happy. It was as if all that inconvenience was really worth it.”
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