01-24-2007, 07:38 AM
Indian women perfect art of public bathing in Ganges
The holy spot where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet is one of the few places in conservative India where strict rules on female dress are relaxed
Indian schoolteacher Kasturi Chhillar is not used to revealing much skin in public - except when she goes to cleanse her sins.
âWe are all one here,â said Chhillar, 57, one of millions of Hindu pilgrims who have flocked to bathe in the Ganges river in the northern city of Allahabad during a major religious festival.
âEveryone is transported, lost in their own thoughts,â said the New Delhi resident. The holy spot where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet is one of the few places in conservative India where strict rules on female dress are relaxed - at least briefly.
Women pilgrims say there is no shame at the Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Pitcher festival - just tricky ways to change out of their wet clothing under the watchful eyes of hordes of men.
âWe have so much shame at home. You think, âmy petticoat is showing, better cover it upâ,â said Manju Shaha, 60, from the north eastern state of Assam.
âHere one doesnât feel bad. Itâs the beauty of a sacred place.â
Several women say the trick to bathing in public - with men - is to at least give a nod to modesty, by jumping in the water fully dressed, or in a nightgown. Swimsuits are not seen here. As for changing later on, many women have adopted the âstrength in numbersâ philosophy - many are seen huddling in groups to preserve their honour, unlike the men romping around in wet briefs.
âYou pull your petticoat up to your chest and change under it,â said Shaha. âOr you hold a towel or cloth around you as you change.â Festival organisers have set up changing stalls for the women, but the massive crowds force many to get dressed in the open.
âThere are moments when one gets a second of privacy and then one changes,â said Gauri Puri, an Italian devotee of the Juna order of Hinduism. Another said the answer was to wear extra-large sized clothes.
âWhen clothes are wet they stick to you so larger sizes are better,â said a California devotee of Baba Rampuri, a guru of the Juna order who also hails from the US west coast. Some change under a loose tunic known as a kurta, which should be large enough to provide maximum coverage.
âYou end up getting everything wet but that is the price one pays for modesty,â she said. This yearâs festival marks the halfway point of the major Kumbh Mela, which Hindus celebrate every 12 years in Allahabad, where ancient scriptures say a drop of the nectar of immortality landed after a 12-day celestial war.
By the time the current festival ends on February 16, more than 70 million pilgrims are expected to have bathed in the river. afp
The holy spot where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet is one of the few places in conservative India where strict rules on female dress are relaxed
Indian schoolteacher Kasturi Chhillar is not used to revealing much skin in public - except when she goes to cleanse her sins.
âWe are all one here,â said Chhillar, 57, one of millions of Hindu pilgrims who have flocked to bathe in the Ganges river in the northern city of Allahabad during a major religious festival.
âEveryone is transported, lost in their own thoughts,â said the New Delhi resident. The holy spot where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet is one of the few places in conservative India where strict rules on female dress are relaxed - at least briefly.
Women pilgrims say there is no shame at the Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Pitcher festival - just tricky ways to change out of their wet clothing under the watchful eyes of hordes of men.
âWe have so much shame at home. You think, âmy petticoat is showing, better cover it upâ,â said Manju Shaha, 60, from the north eastern state of Assam.
âHere one doesnât feel bad. Itâs the beauty of a sacred place.â
Several women say the trick to bathing in public - with men - is to at least give a nod to modesty, by jumping in the water fully dressed, or in a nightgown. Swimsuits are not seen here. As for changing later on, many women have adopted the âstrength in numbersâ philosophy - many are seen huddling in groups to preserve their honour, unlike the men romping around in wet briefs.
âYou pull your petticoat up to your chest and change under it,â said Shaha. âOr you hold a towel or cloth around you as you change.â Festival organisers have set up changing stalls for the women, but the massive crowds force many to get dressed in the open.
âThere are moments when one gets a second of privacy and then one changes,â said Gauri Puri, an Italian devotee of the Juna order of Hinduism. Another said the answer was to wear extra-large sized clothes.
âWhen clothes are wet they stick to you so larger sizes are better,â said a California devotee of Baba Rampuri, a guru of the Juna order who also hails from the US west coast. Some change under a loose tunic known as a kurta, which should be large enough to provide maximum coverage.
âYou end up getting everything wet but that is the price one pays for modesty,â she said. This yearâs festival marks the halfway point of the major Kumbh Mela, which Hindus celebrate every 12 years in Allahabad, where ancient scriptures say a drop of the nectar of immortality landed after a 12-day celestial war.
By the time the current festival ends on February 16, more than 70 million pilgrims are expected to have bathed in the river. afp