Dreadlocked ascetics take ‘royal bath’ in holy festival

Sacred space: An aerial handout photograph taken and released by India’s Uttar Pradesh State Information Department showing Hindu pilgrims taking a holy dip in the sacred waters of Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati, during the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj. — AFP

Scores of naked Hindu ascetics smeared in holy ash charged into the water of holy rivers in northern India yesterday, dreadlocks flying, during the first “royal bath” of the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival.

The “royal bath” is a key part of the event, held every 12 years in the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, significant because Hindus believe it confers salvation from the cycle of birth and death, in addition to absolution of sins.The dip by the ascetics, who wore only holy beads, though some wielded tridents, spears, or maces, signals the start of the ritual, watched by thousands of devotees.