I pellegrini in massa entrano nelle gelide acque del fiume sacro, nel punto in cui esso si apre alla pianura scendendo dall'Himalaya

(AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

Hindu devotees offer prayers while taking a dip in the River Ganges on the first day of the Kumbh Mela or the pitcher festival in Haridwar, India, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. Hundreds of thousands of devotees took a dip in the icy waters of the Ganges river in one of northern India’s holiest cities Thursday, marking the start of a monthslong Hindu festival expected to attract more than 10 million people.