Thousands of Hindu worshipers gathered for a holy dip on the banks of India’s Ganges river on Friday, despite a 30-fold increase in coronavirus cases in the past one month.
Hindus believe that taking a bath in the holy river on the day of Makar Sankranti, January 14, washes away sins.
Devotees in large numbers were taking a dip in the holy river, where it flows through the eastern state of West Bengal, which is reporting the highest number of cases in the country after Maharashtra state in the west.
In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, thousands of pilgrims, some wearing masks, flocked to the banks of the river in the holy city of Prayagraj.
Ram Phal Tripathi, who came with his family from a village in the state of Uttar Pradesh, said after coming out of the river, “I can’t breathe with the mask on.”
“Every year I come for a holy bath. How could I miss it this year?”
India is again facing a surge in coronavirus cases, mostly driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, but a low number of hospitalizations, with most people recovering at home.
Doctors had unsuccessfully appealed to the West Bengal state high court to reverse the decision to allow the festival this year, worrying that it would become a virus “super spreader” event.
Read more: India fears another covid disaster as cases increase
Last year, a large religious gathering in North India contributed to a record rise in coronavirus cases.
On Friday, the health ministry reported 264,202 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking India’s total to 36.58 million.
The death toll from Covid-19 rose by 315, the ministry said, taking the total to 485,350 now.
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