Nearly 30 million devout Hindus plunged into the cold waters of India's holy Ganges river to wash away their sins at the climax of a six-week religious festival.
Jeevesh Nandan, officer in charge of the ancient Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, said yesterday that 27 million people had bathed in the Ganges since the festival's most auspicious time began on Tuesday afternoon.
"I think it has peaked now, the crowd is thinning," he said as hundreds of thousands of devotees waded out into the river.
Hindus believe that a bath in the Sangam, or confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna river and the mythical Saraswati river absolves sin, ends the cycle of reincarnation and speeds the way to nirvana or afterlife.
Yesterday was seen as the most auspicious day of the 42day Maha Kumbh as it coincides with the start of a new moon.
Nandan said the bathing had taken place without a major hitch despite fears of a stampede and worries that anti-government guerrillas might launch an attack. "It has been very peaceful," he said.
Hundreds of naked, ash-smeared Naga Sadhus surged towards the Sangam as day broke over the northern town of Allahabad. A sea of humanity on the flood plains of the Ganges waited their turn to enter the river.
The Naga Sadhus, wearing just marigold garlands, raced to the edge of the water, brandishing sticks at passers-by. Some of them sprinkled sand over their naked sun-burnt bodies and then joyfully jumped into the river.
Applause rose from the tens of thousands of pilgrims waiting behind barricades for their turn to bathe.
The dreadlocked nagas - who live in caves in forests and exist on roots and plants - have traditionally occupied a prominent place in the Kumbh bathing order.
Hindu records say there were battles in the 17th and 18th centuries between the Nagas and other sects over who should lead the procession to the Sangam.
Members of Hindu religious orders paraded with elephants, horses and brightly decorated vehicles, while marching bands played on the river bank.
The head of the Shambu Panch Agni Akhara sat under a red canopy, surrounded by disciples and gun-toting bodyguards. He tossed flowers at pilgrims as he was taken to the confluence point of the rivers, where Hindus believe the gods spilt a drop of the elixir of immortality during an epic battle with demons.
The streets of Allahabad, which normally has a population of about 1.5 million people, were crammed with waves of hymn-chanting pilgrims moving peacefully towards the river.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims slept the night on the vast festival grounds, while many huddled together under trees to fight the cold.
Achala Srivasatava, a volunteer at the biggest lost-and-found shelter, said thousands of people had been separated from families and friends since late on Tuesday.
"At one point in the night we had 8,000 names being called out on the loudspeaker," she said.
Several squads of mounted police regulated the flow of pilgrims to and from the confluence point. About 11,000 policemen have been deployed to keep order at the festival.