INDIA:Thousands of Hindu holy men have threatened to boycott ceremonies at a six-week long religious festival to wash away their sins in the Ganges, claiming the divine river is overly polluted.
"Millions of people are bathing in the Ganges that Hindus consider holy," said Hari Chaitanaya Brahmachari, a leading Hindu holy man, "but the fact is they are taking a dip not in river water but in effluents discharged from factories."
Chaitanaya Brahmachari is head of a local monastery at Allahabad, the venue of the Ardh Kumbh Mela or Half Grand Pitcher festival that began last week, 500 km (310 miles) north of Delhi.
Over the 37 days, some 70 million people, mostly Hindus, are expected to take a dip at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati, a mythical third river to celebrate the festival that observes the triumph of good over evil.
According to Hindu mythology, Allahabad is one of four spots where Garuda, the winged steed of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation, is said to have rested while battling demons over a pitcher containing the divine nectar of immortality.
Garuda's flight lasted 12 divine days, or 12 years of mortal time, hence the celebration of Maha Kumbh every 12 years when a larger festival takes place, making it one of the world's largest religious gatherings.
The current festival is half way to the large one due in 2012.
Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges, especially on auspicious days, washes away all sin and ends the tiresome process of reincarnation leading to Nirvana.
The saffron-clad, ash-smeared holy men, or sadhus, gathered at the fair grounds on the banks of the Ganges are demanding that it be cleansed by January 12th, the day of the next great immersion.
"If [ the] Ganges is not cleaned within the next few days I will take jal samadhi," Chaitanaya Brahmachari said referring to the ritual suicide of drowning to which sadhus sometimes resort.
Officials said they were trying to improve the quality of the water, releasing fresh supplies up stream. They hoped the river would be cleaner for the holy dip.
Fair organiser PN Mishra said hundreds of labourers were working around the clock, carrying away more than 50 tonnes of flowers and waste left by devotees.
Over the years, the Ganges, especially at Allahabad, has become horribly polluted not only by decades of contamination by industry that pumps in sewage and waste, but also by millions of pilgrims who litter the area.