ALLAHABAD Hindu holy men brandishing spears and tridents charge into the Ganges as part of the world’s largest religious festival, despite threatening to boycott it because of pollution.

The ritual bathing in the sacred river began the most auspicious day in the six-week Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Pitcher festival, when tens of millions of pilgrims gather to wash away their sins and free themselves from the earthly cycle of reincarnation.

Authorities released fresh water from an upstream dam last week in an effort to clean up the river after thousands of sadhus threatened to boycott the ancient ritual.

Industrial discharge, sewage, pesticides and the remains of human bodies have increased pollution levels over the years. “The water is dirtier than last time,” Naga Baba Triveni Puri, a holy man, said. “It’s like neglecting my mother. This river is the source of all life.”

Pilgrims from across India fought for space by the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mythical third river, the Saraswati, for the ritual. About 15,000 police and 50,000 other officials were on duty. (Reuters)

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