The photos below were taken on January 9, 2001, the first official day of the Kumbha Mela.

A leper accepting offerings from pilgrims. He has only stubs where his fingers should be and part of his nose is missing. This photo was taken at 8.25am on 10^th January. Earlier, not long after the lunar eclipse at about 4am, I had seen him attempting to cross the pontoon bridge across the Ganga from the Sangam side in the West to the vast sandbank area in the East. A policeman stopped him from crossing, but finally gave in to the leper’s begging cries. The competition from other beggars on the sandbank side is less fierce..

Pilgrims crossing the pontoon bridge over the Ganga from the sandbank area in the east to the Sangam area in the west. One way traffic only is permitted on each pontoon bridge. Vehicles also use these bridges. The long old grand trunk road bridge can be seen across the photograph in the background.

A two unit female toilet for peeing only. A young woman here is trying to prevent desperate men from using it.

This is what the urinal in a male toilet looks like. The dark metal plate on the ground directs the urine into a large hole under the sand..