Can Feces Render Retribution?

Kevin Frayer/AP Photo

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Every 12 years, on the banks of India’s holy River Ganges outside Allahabad, a city of more than 10 million people springs up. Picture the whole of New York landing on the doorstep, followed by all of Philadelphia.

And then there are the day-trippers. In all, about 100 million Hindu pilgrims and tens of thousands of tourists had flocked to the 55-day Kumbh Mela festival by the time it ended yesterday, the biggest gathering of humanity on the planet. Billionaires andfilm stars, soot-encrusted naked sadhu mystics and tens of millions of rural laborers, all taking a dunk — and occasional sip — to escape the cycle of reincarnation.

Like much else involving India’s 1.2 billion people, the Kumbh Mela is mind-boggling: new roads are laid to connect festival grounds the size of Manhattan; power substations are wired up; 200,000 government ration cards were issued to feed the poor; gaudily lit bazaars and restaurants keep residents entertained and fed. And 14 free public hospitals try to hold germs at bay.