(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, JAN 14 - Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are reaching the city of Haridwar, in Uttarakand, in northern India, where today, along the banks of the Ganges river, the celebrations of the Kumba Mela, the most attended Hindu ceremony, begin .
The authorities predict that today 800,000 people will dive into the waters, deemed sacred, of the river.
The mass gathering, which will last seven weeks, to end on April 27, was authorized by the government in respect of the concerns about the Covid pandemic: in this period it is expected that several million faithful will arrive in Haridwar.
The Kumba Mela is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site: the last edition, in 2019, in the city of Pryagraj, the former Allahabad, saw the participation of 55 million faithful.
While the central government is launching the most massive vaccination campaign in the country's history, which will leave on Saturday, to immunize from Covid, pilgrims camped along the banks of the sacred river, proti for ritual diving, tell reporters that they are not worried about the infection.
"Maa Ganga, Mother Ganges, will help us and protect us".
(HANDLE).