HARI GIRI, 69 YEAR OLD HINDU DEVOTEE FROM UTAR PRADESH DISTRICT PRAYS ON THE BANK OF RIVER GANGES IN ALLAHABAD.


Hari Giri, a 69-year-old Hindu devotee from Utar Pradesh, prays on the banks of the Ganges River during the "Mala Kumbh Mela", or Great Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad January 9, 2001. Tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims braved cold and fog to take a submerge themselves in the holy Indian river on Tuesday, opening a festival which officials say could draw as many as 70 million people over the next six weeks.