Ardh Kumbh,Allahabad

Lakhs flock to Ardh Kumbh

ALLAHABAD: More than 20 lakh people took a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the Saraswati here on Paush Poornima on Wednesday, marking the beginning of a mammoth month-long Ardh Kumbh congregation, amid tight security.

A steady stream of devotees made a beeline for about 30 bathing ghats from early morning despite chill winds and fog enveloping the sprawling Kumbh Nagari. Allahabad, in fact, was the coldest place in all of Uttar Pradesh at 6.3 degrees Celsius.

Many foreign tourists were also around, and when asked for their comments, their common refrain about the congregation was: ``Incredible!''

The holy bath over, many pilgrims were seen moving towards the Bade Hanuman temple, which is the only one with a supine idol of Lord Hanuman, while some others tried to venture out to attractive pandals of different "akharas", four of whom have already made their ceremonial entry into the mela ground in colourful processions.

About 10,000 policemen and 4,000 home guards were deployed for maintaining law and order. In addition, there were 32 barricaded checkpoints manned by Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force personnel.

National Security Guard commandos, anti-terrorist squads, quick response teams of commandos, bomb disposal squads and anti-sabotage teams have also been deployed.

A large number of policemen also kept a close watch from towers and through closed-circuit TV cameras. Plying of vehicles was banned.

The turnout was, however, much thinner than earlier official estimates of 80 lakh people. The devout attributed it to fear of general law and order problems and the poor quality of water in the Ganga.

However, as the early morning fog lifted and the sun beat down on the undulating sand tracts, the crowds got thicker.