HINDU FESTIVAL.
VAST CROWD ASSEMBLES.
IMMERSIONS IN THE GANGES. (Received January 16, 10.55 p.m.) DELHI, Jan. 16. A million and a-half pilgrims have gathered for the Kumbh-Mela, India's greatest festival, which is held at Allahabad every 12 years at a point in front of the fort where the Ganges and the Jumna meet. At the opening of the festival yesterday 10,000 people stood waist-deep in i the sacred Ganges. Hundreds of thousands of others stood on the banks of the river to greet the dawn. A great roar of " Ram, ram, Gangamai" went up from the multitude upon glimpsing the sun's first beams. The immersion ceremony will continue for several days.
To the Hindus Allahabad is still known by its ancieiit name of Prag or Prayag (place of sacrifice). It owes its sanctity to its being the confluence of the two sacred streams, Ganges and Jumna, the two are said to meet underground. An annual festival is held on the occasion of the full moon of the Hindu month of Magh, known as the Magh-mela, and every 12th year the Kumbh-mela is held, at which there are assembled 1,000,000 or more devotees. Allahabad itself has a population of about 157,000.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20465, 17 January 1930, Page 11
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200HINDU FESTIVAL. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20465, 17 January 1930, Page 11
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