Thousands of nude Hindu priests plunged into a river pool in western India before dawn for holy dips that were repeated during the day by more than a million devotees at the religion's holiest fair.
Chanting the name of the Hindu god Shiva, the priests walked into the pool from various streets in the town of Trimbakeshwar, kicking off religious baths which form part of the ancient Hindu Kumbh Mela, or Nectar Pot Fair.
The chant "Har Har Mahadev" (Victory to lord Shiva) reverberated through the early morning air as authorities, police and lifeguards watched over the thousands of devotees.
Most of the priests swam nude or wearing only a piece of saffron cloth.
The mood was one of ritualistic euphoria as the priests, many of whom had come down from the hills where they spend years in penance and meditation, entered the water in groups and splashed each other, chanting sanskrit mantras and holy scriptures as bells rang loudly in the background.
As the sunlight washed away the darkness of the night, more and more groups of priests came to the pool, led by loud trumpets, musical bands and saffron-clad followers who carried their religious leaders on their shoulders or on specially made seats.
As one group of priests completed their bath, another group waited for its turn to swim in the cold water.
"I am truly blessed today as I jumped in this holy water and became one with the God. It is this moment that we wait for years and years," said Sri Chaitanya, a young priest from Indian state of Haryana.
"This is God's chosen land and to bath here is like washing away all your sins and starting life again."
Many of the nude priests were covered by wet dark ash that gave them an otherworldly look.
Even after their bath, they rubbed wet ash on their hands and faces before walking back to their abodes during the fair -- temporary huts erected on the outskirts of Trimbakeshwar and nearby Nashik, 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Bombay.
The holy bath started at 4:20 am Tuesday (2250 GMT Monday) and continued throughout the day, with hundreds of thousands of Hindus from across the country arriving to take the plunge.
Devotees and common people were allowed to bathe from the afternoon once the priests were through with their rituals.
"Our information is that 800,000 people took a bath in the town of Trimbakeshwar and equal number must have taken bath in Nashik," said Trimbakeshwar superintendent of police, Ravindra Singhal.
He said nearly 4,000 policemen stood guard from early Tuesday to control the crowd and monitor the festival.
Hindu priests and devotees have been arriving here since July 30 when the Kumbh Mela commenced, but the holy baths in the Godavri river only began Tuesday -- the most auspicious date of the holiest of Hindu fairs.
Priests of nearly 10 Akhadas, or Hindu religious schools, conducted prayers and took baths "by plunging in the holy tank here at Trimbakeshwar", said Parmanand Saraswati, one of the organisers of the fair.
The streets of Trimbakeshwar were overflowing with people wearing the traditional Hindu colours of saffron and white.
Holy dips during the month-long fair are scheduled for August 12, 27 and September 7 in Trimbakeshwar and August 17, 27 and September 1 in Nashik.
The fair is held once every three years, rotating through four different locations in India where Hindu mythology says drops of nectar fell from the pot of Jayant, the son of the Hindu god of war Indra.
The fair was kicked off on July 30 by powerful priests and right-wing Hindu leaders along with nearly 500,000 devotees, as a saffron flag was hoisted amid the chant of sanskrit prayers.