ALLAHABAD, India - India's Maha Kumbh Mela Hindu festival, billed as the world's largest gathering, wound down on Wednesday, with the organisers saying almost 100 million pilgrims had taken dip in the holy Ganges river since it began.
The figure, announced on the final day of the Grand Pitcher Festival as the sin-cleansing pilgrimage is also known, was more than the 70 million pilgrims expected when the event began on January 9.
But even though an estimated one million pilgrims turned out to bathe early on Wednesday, parts of the site, particularly a sprawling tented township built specially to house pilgrims, looked deserted.
"In all nearly 100 million people have bathed over the 42 days of the mela," Jeevesh Nandan, officer in charge of the ancient festival held once every 12 years, told Reuters.
The peak of the festival in the holy city of Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mythical third river was on January 24 when an estimated 30 million pilgrims bathed in the river.
Nandan said that a mere one million people filed into the Ganges to bathe early on Wednesday, which coincided with the Hindu festival of Shivratri. He expected the figure to rise to about three million by the end of the day.
Hindus believe a dip at the Sangam or holy confluence absolves them of sin, ends a cycle of reincarnation and speeds the way to the afterlife. They also believe the Sangam is one of four places where the gods spilt a drop of the elixir of immortality.
FOCUS OF FESTIVITIES SHIFTS
Officials said the rush of pilgrims had eased because the focus of festivities had shifted to the holy town of Benares, which has one of the most sacred temples dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva.
"It is not unusual for crowds to thin toward the end of the mela, particularly after the 'shahi snans' (royal baths) are over and the 'akharas' (monastic orders) depart," said P.K. Asthana, a former government official who organised many past festivals.
Most of the holy men -- including the ash-smeared naked Naga Babas who led a flood of pilgrims to the Sangam -- left the festival more than two weeks ago.
The tented township, specially set up for the festival that some dubbed a spiritual Woodstock, was completely deserted on Wednesday except for the odd straggler.
The festival's fervour began to fade after the last major bathing ceremony on February 8 which went off without any of the noisy and colourful processions of sadhus or wandering holy men that marked the five earlier auspicious days.
Pilgrims who turned out on Wednesday said they chose to come at the end of the festival to avoid the milling crowds and the crush of security men in the area.
"Initially, we were keen to come towards the begining of the mela," said Ramesh Lenka, a shopkeeper who travelled from the eastern state of Orissa with 45 people.
"But soon we realised that it would be much better and more meaningful to take our dip in peace towards the end now."
Several foreign tourists, who travelled to the site hoping to catch a glimpse of the festival's unique atmosphere, expressed disappointment.
"If I had known this is what it would be like, I would not have come at this time. The mela is surely over and there is nothing much to see now," said an Italian named Antonio.
03:34 02-21-01
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