DStv Channel 403 Thursday, 13 February 2025

India's Modi takes ritual dip at Hindu mega-festival

PRAYAGRAJ - India's Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a ritual river dip on Wednesday at the world's largest religious festival, a week after a stampede killed at least 30 pilgrims.

Many millions of people have already bathed in the confluence of rivers at the Kumbh Mela, a six-week-long Hindu celebration of prayer and bathing held every 12 years.

Modi, dressed in a saffron-coloured top and counting prayer beads in his hands, waded out thigh-deep to the holiest site of the Sangam, the meeting point of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers.

He then dunked his head under the waters several times, watched by vast crowds packed along the river banks in the north Indian city of Prayagraj, in Utter Pradesh state.

Modi said he was "blessed" to take part, calling it a "moment of divine connection".

"Like the tens of millions of others who have taken part in it, I was also filled with a spirit of devotion," he added in a statement.

Hindus believe that those who immerse themselves in the waters cleanse themselves of sin, breaking free from the cycle of rebirth and ultimately attaining salvation.

Organisers say the scale of the Kumbh Mela is that of a temporary country, boasting that as many as 400 million pilgrims are expected to attend.

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