SAGAR,INDIA14JAN00-A Hindu woman pours water onto her grand daughter at the Sagar Island, 150 km (95 miles) south of the eastern indian city of Calcutta on January 14. The urban, educated girl had refused to immerse herself in the river, provoking her mother and grand mother to pour the water on her. Hindus consider it auspicious to take a dip in the holy Ganga river. Thousands of pilgrims thronged to Sagar island for a holy dip at the confluence of the river Ganga and the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of Makar Sankrinti, a Hindu festival which begins January 15. Devotees reach the island several days in advance.

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