Thousands gather at Hindu festival in India as virus surges

LUCKNOW, India — Tens of thousands of devout Hindus, led by heads of monasteries and ash-smeared ascetics, took a beatified dip into the frigid waters of the Ganges River successful bluish India connected Friday contempt rising COVID-19 infections successful the country.

Hindu pilgrims congregated astatine the Sangam, the confluence of 3 rivers — the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati — successful Prayagraj city, 200 km (124 miles) northeast of Lucknow, the authorities superior of Uttar Pradesh, to enactment successful the Magh Mela festival, 1 of the astir ineffable pilgrimages successful Hinduism. They bathed successful the Ganges waters, a ritual Hindus judge volition lavation distant their sins and escaped them from the rhythm of decease and rebirth.

A similar gathering astatine a Hindu festival past twelvemonth successful the Himalayan municipality of Haridwar, successful neighboring Uttarakhand state, helped dispersed the delta variant that ravaged the state and made India 1 of the world’s worst-hit countries. Epidemiologists described the festival arsenic a “superspreader event.”

Coronavirus infections, fueled by the omicron variant, are rising accelerated passim India. The state reported implicit 264,000 caller infections connected Friday but hospitalizations stay comparatively low.

Millions of Hindus are expected to throng the festival for the adjacent 47 days. Many of them volition enactment connected the banks of the Ganges for a period starring the beingness of an ascetic, with the content they volition person salvation. It has raised concerns that pilgrims could get infected and instrumentality the microorganism backmost to their cities and villages successful different parts of the country.

Already, 77 policemen and 12 cleaning unit deployed for the lawsuit person tested affirmative for the virus.

“This is going to beryllium a superspreader. The authorities should not let a congregation of radical successful specified a ample fig due to the fact that spiritual congregations successful the past 2 years were recovered liable for spreading the deadly microorganism each crossed the country,” said Utkarsh Mishra, a lawyer who has filed a petition successful the Allahabad High Court asking that the festival beryllium canceled.

Mishra said lone locals and heads of important Hindu monasteries should beryllium allowed to instrumentality portion successful the ritual.

Fearing a emergence successful infections, authorities successful neighboring Uttarakhand authorities person already banned a akin gathering.

Health experts earlier appealed for the festival to beryllium canceled successful Uttar Pradesh authorities too, but the authorities went up saying information rules would beryllium followed.

Shesh Mani Pandey, a elder authoritative successful complaint of the event, said lone those who person taken 2 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines and person vaccination certificates would beryllium allowed to articulation the ritualistic bathing. He said pilgrims volition beryllium allowed to participate the festival tract aft going done thermal scanning astatine the introduction gates.

Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party accidental the festival has been allowed contempt rising infections due to the fact that the authorities isn’t consenting to choler Hindus — they are the party’s biggest supporters — up of crucial authorities elections successful Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP-ruled authorities is holding polls connected Feb. 10.