Soul food at India's southern Kumbh

By Omer Farooq
BBC correspondent in Rajahmundry

Far downstream from the Kumbh Mela festival in Nashik, another festival - the Pushkaram or "Kumbh of the South" - is taking place.

About two million people will have bathed by the end of the first day

The roads of Rajahmundry, a city of half a million people, were congested from Tuesday night as devotees headed towards the 13 bathing spots on the banks of the river Godavari.

Queues of people waiting to enter the river stretched almost four kilometres (2.5 miles).

"This stream of visitors will continue till the Pushkaram ends on 10 August," said district official KS Jawahar Reddy.

One pilgrim said devotees believed they would free themselves from the "clutches of materialism" by attending.

"This bath will clean your soul of all the sins as a soap washes your body," said C Satyanarayana Murthy, 53, as he led members of his family into the flooded and muddied waters of Godavari.

"The bath in Godavari during Pushkaram is like a panacea and medicine for a soul. It reinvigorates our spirit."

Nageshwara Rao, 23, who had travelled 170 kilometres from Sileru to reach Rajahmundry, said: "It is an experience which I cannot describe in words."

Bigger and better

Rajya Lakshmi, who had come to the festival with her grandchildren, described it as an historic occasion.

"I have seen many Pushkarams in the past but nothing like this.

"The gathering has never been so huge... and the arrangements are the best."

Apart from taking a holy dip, many pilgrims also take part in "Pindi Pardanam", or rituals for the departed souls of their deceased parents.

Many priests are on hand to help out with the rituals.

"We are offering the rituals for as low as 20 rupees (40 cents), the minimum charges fixed for the priests," said Ram Mohan Sharma, a priest from Medak.

"However there is no limit on the maximum offerings by the pilgrims," he said.

School holidays

As the flood of pilgrims into the city continues, all the hotels and lodgings are jam-packed with people.

The bath in Godavari during Pushkaram is like a panacea and medicine for a soul C Satyanarayana Murthy, pilgrim

Students have been given holidays until 11 August and many have been enrolled as volunteers to help guide the pilgrims.

In a novel move to maintain order and keep the pilgrims informed, the authorities have installed a public address system covering almost the entire town on which regular announcements are made and devotional songs played.

The city has been decorated with colourful lights and welcome arches.

And much to the relief of officials the level of water in the river Godavari has decreased below warning levels as the gates of a dam have been opened to let out excess flood water.