India’s Modi takes ‘holy dips’ at Maha Kumbh, week after stampede killed dozens

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took holy dips in sacred river waters in the northern city of Prayagraj on Wednesday as he joined millions of people at the Maha Kumbh Mela, a week after dozens died in a stampede at the event.

Authorities said 30 people were killed in the stampede on the six week-long Hindu festival’s most auspicious day on Jan. 29, as more than 76 million people converged on the river to take a ‘royal dip’.

Sources said the death toll was more than 50. Devout Hindus believe that taking a dip during the Kumbh at the confluence of three sacred rivers - Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati, which is believed to flow underground -absolves people of sins and brings salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

Live visuals broadcast on state and private news channels showed Modi - dressed in a saffron sweatshirt and black sweat pants with saffron stripes on the side - holding on to a thick yellow rope for support as he took three dips in the knee-deep water.

Security personnel stood in the water nearby while thousands of people crowded the banks to watch the prime minister perform the rituals.

Modi arrived on a boat with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and changed his clothes on a floating enclosure before wading into the water. Holy men chanted religious verses as he performed the dips. Modi attended the smaller Kumbh Mela in 2019.

More than 400 million people are expected to attend this year’s Maha Kumbh Mela, making it the world’s largest gathering, officials say.

More than 380 million have already attended in its first three weeks, they said.

An investigation has been launched into last week’s stampede, which happened as devotees thronged the confluence of the rivers where a dip is believed to be particularly special.

Opposition parties have blamed the tragedy on mismanagement and accused the state government of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of hiding the real death toll.

Dozens killed in India’s Kumbh festival stampede, police sources and witness say

Authorities have denied the claims and have since taken additional safety measures, including deploying more security personnel to manage the mammoth crowds.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is taking place at a 4,000 hectare (9,900 acre) temporary township - the size of 7,500 football fields - created on the river banks in Prayagraj.

Home Minister Amit Shah, industrialist Gautam Adani, Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Coldplay’s Chris Martin have also joined this year’s festival.