Hundreds of thousands of Indians gather for holy dip, defying Covid-19 surge

Published January 14, 2022
Hindu pilgrims gather to take a dip at the confluence of the river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, on the occasion of Makarsankranti festival at Sagar Island, West Bengal, India, on Friday. — Reuters
Hindu pilgrims gather to take a dip at the confluence of the river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, on the occasion of Makarsankranti festival at Sagar Island, West Bengal, India, on Friday. — Reuters

Hundreds of thousands of Hindu worshippers gathered on the banks of India's Ganges river on Friday for a holy bath despite a 30-fold rise in coronavirus cases in the past month.

Hindus believe a bath in the holy river on the January 14 Makarsankranti festival washes away sins.

A large number of devotees were taking a dip in the sacred river where it flows through the eastern state of West Bengal, which is reporting the most number of cases in the country after Maharashtra state in the west.

In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, thousands of devotees, few wearing masks, thronged the river's banks in the holy city of Prayagraj.

"I can't breathe with a mask," Ram Phal Tripathi, who came with his family from a village in Uttar Pradesh state, said after emerging from the river.

"Every year I come for a holy dip. How could I have missed it this year?"

India is again facing a surge in coronavirus cases, fuelled mostly by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, but hospitalisations are low, with most people recovering at home.

Doctors had appealed unsuccessfully to the West Bengal state high court to reverse a decision to allow the festival this year, worrying it will become a virus "super spreader" event.

Read more: India fears another Covid catastrophe as cases rise

Last year, a big religious gathering in northern India contributed to a record rise in coronavirus cases.

On Friday, the health ministry reported 264,202 new cases of the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, taking India's total tally to 36.58 million.

Deaths from Covid-19 rose by 315, with the total now at 485,350, the ministry said.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.