Where the Ganges and the Jamna meet people from many,many different traditions of Hinduism come together. Therewill be many genuinely holy men, some charlatans, and someobscurantists. But the majority of those who come to bathe inthe Sangam will be villagers. The Kumbh is an awe-inspiringdemonstration of simple piety and a clear example of the powerof myth.This is a small book presenting the Kumbh Mela, the biggestreligious festival in India. The renowned journalist MarkTully, who has covered with the BBC and as a free-lancer themain events in the recent history of India, gives in his inimitablestyle his impressions of the Kumbh Mela held at Allahabad in1989.