For the thousands of foreigners who are visiting the Ardh Kumbh mela, they have not just adopted a new religion.
They have also taken on new names and new identities.
At the mela grounds, we come across an English woman who goes by the name of Ganga Devi. Ganga is the Hindi name for river Ganges.
Ganga Devi has been a Hindu nun for 10 years
"I have been a sanyasin (Hindu nun) for ten years," she says.
She's just taken a holy dip in the Ganges. How does it feel?
"Coming out of the Ganga, I felt very clean. Not just the body, a dip here also cleanses your inside. It's wonderful that such festivals are still held. With these festivals, world is a better place," she says.
We ask Australian Jasraj Puri what his real name is. "It's been washed away along with my sins into the Ganges and now has gone into the Bay of Bengal," he jokes.
For this physiotherapist who worked in Australia and Britain before a search for something more meaningful - "inner happiness", as he says - brought him to India ten years ago.
He joined an ashram and has made Rajasthan his home.
"I'm visiting the mela to have a dip in the river and hear the saints, the holy men. Get their blessing," he says.
But you've heard them many times. Don't they repeat the same things all the time?
"Yes, but we never understand. Do we?," he asks.
We still don't know what his real name is.
Until a few years ago, foreigners coming for a dip in the Ganges were a rare sight.
Today, special tour groups are organised for them and special camps are set up for them at the mela grounds.
Jasraj Puri is looking for 'inner happiness'
Here, one can hear myriad accents - from Italian to Japanese to American to British to French to Australian. You name it, they are all there.
Some have even joined the ranks of the Naga sadhus.
We saw some European women who were part of the largest and most dreaded Naga camp - the Juna akhara.
An official for Juna akhara told us they have a couple of hundred foreigners in their group.
Unlike the men in this camp who go naked, these women were wrapped in saffron robes.
07:50 GMT, Allahabad
Hinduism's Kumbh mela is 35 times bigger than Islamic Hajj festival, New age movments are nothing but roads which are taking millions towards Hinduism with every passing day, increased presence of Hindu Gurus, Ashrams and Temples worlwide and the way soul of Hinduism- "Yoga" has become an essential part of the life of millions in western nations shows nothing but this ancient and still billion strong religion is spreading silently and peacefully without making any noises and conversion attempts.
What do you think, what will be the shape of religious nature of this century?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6276827.stm
They have also taken on new names and new identities.
At the mela grounds, we come across an English woman who goes by the name of Ganga Devi. Ganga is the Hindi name for river Ganges.
Ganga Devi has been a Hindu nun for 10 years
"I have been a sanyasin (Hindu nun) for ten years," she says.
She's just taken a holy dip in the Ganges. How does it feel?
"Coming out of the Ganga, I felt very clean. Not just the body, a dip here also cleanses your inside. It's wonderful that such festivals are still held. With these festivals, world is a better place," she says.
We ask Australian Jasraj Puri what his real name is. "It's been washed away along with my sins into the Ganges and now has gone into the Bay of Bengal," he jokes.
For this physiotherapist who worked in Australia and Britain before a search for something more meaningful - "inner happiness", as he says - brought him to India ten years ago.
He joined an ashram and has made Rajasthan his home.
"I'm visiting the mela to have a dip in the river and hear the saints, the holy men. Get their blessing," he says.
But you've heard them many times. Don't they repeat the same things all the time?
"Yes, but we never understand. Do we?," he asks.
We still don't know what his real name is.
Until a few years ago, foreigners coming for a dip in the Ganges were a rare sight.
Today, special tour groups are organised for them and special camps are set up for them at the mela grounds.
Jasraj Puri is looking for 'inner happiness'
Here, one can hear myriad accents - from Italian to Japanese to American to British to French to Australian. You name it, they are all there.
Some have even joined the ranks of the Naga sadhus.
We saw some European women who were part of the largest and most dreaded Naga camp - the Juna akhara.
An official for Juna akhara told us they have a couple of hundred foreigners in their group.
Unlike the men in this camp who go naked, these women were wrapped in saffron robes.
07:50 GMT, Allahabad
Hinduism's Kumbh mela is 35 times bigger than Islamic Hajj festival, New age movments are nothing but roads which are taking millions towards Hinduism with every passing day, increased presence of Hindu Gurus, Ashrams and Temples worlwide and the way soul of Hinduism- "Yoga" has become an essential part of the life of millions in western nations shows nothing but this ancient and still billion strong religion is spreading silently and peacefully without making any noises and conversion attempts.
What do you think, what will be the shape of religious nature of this century?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6276827.stm
