A total of 36,000 Sadhus (Hindu holy men) were part of the estimated crowd of 40 million attending the two month Kumbh Mela festival in India one spring. More than 200 American Sadhus of the Hari Krishna groups brought millions of dollars worth of Hindu literature to the festival.

One of the partners in South India explained the purpose of the ritual bathing in the river, "They come for forgiveness of sins and salvation. Some thousands come stark naked some o…