Photos taken  January 21, 2001. Between the auspicious bathing days, pilgrims can bathe without battling the huge crowds. In a few days, however, things will look very different. The most auspicious bathing day, Mauni Amavasya, is coming up on January 24th when the crowd is expected to be the largest yet.

A view of the Sangam bathing ghat area, taken from 50 meters out in the Ganga. The walk far out into the Ganga makes pilgrims feel as though they are being embraced by the Holy River

A husband leading his wife 15 meters out into the Ganga at the Sangam. The authorities have created a long shallow area to enable pilgrims to walk out.

A view of the Sangam at 12.30pm from the nearby kila ghat area.

That precious thing called wood, being brought into Kumbhnagar by camel. It is sold to the wood sellers for two rupees a kilo, who then sell it off to the pilgrims for 3 rupees. Exchange rate: $1=Rs.46. All of Kumbhnagar smells of burning wood particularly in the evenings when visibility is reduced and people suffer from burning eyes due to smoke emanating from hundreds of thousands of wood fires all over this temporary city.