Allahabad - Tens of thousands of holy men in northern India shed their traditional fanfare and quietly led pilgrims to the Ganges river for a sin-cleansing dip yesterday, the fourth auspicious day of a six-week festival.
The akharas or Hindu monastic orders said they dropped the musical bands that previously accompanied them during the Maha Kumbh Mela or Grand Pitcher Festival in deference to the thousands of victims of the earthquake.
"That was our way of condoling with the unprecedented tragedy that had struck the people of Gujarat," said Mr Mahant Govind Das, general secretary of the All India Akhara Parishad.
Officials said they expected about 10 million people to have taken a holy dip yesterday, a day when Hindus celebrated the popular Basant Panchami festival marking the beginning of spring.