Ardh Kumbh Mela is party time for beggars

Ardh Kumbh Nagar, Jan 22 (UNI) Foreigners who backpack to India have often termed the country the land of sadhus and beggars.

If they are to be believed, the ongoing Ardh Kumbh Mela presents a microscopic picture of India with a floating population of over 50 million people leaving and entering the Mela, now a notified temporary district.

While pilgrims come and leave the area, it is the sadhus, saints and of course beggars who spend their entire time at the month-long festival.

''This is big business for beggars who get free food, free firewood and tents during their stay here,'' quipped a police official.

The beggars' favourites are foreign nationals and pilgrims from either Gujarat and Maharasthra. People claim that while foreigners are ''as it is '' generous in giving alms, pilgrims from these two states come in large groups and often donate food, money and clothes to beggars.

Beggars, with their traditional begging bowl, also provide an excellent photo opportunity to foreigners who love clicking away at cows, beggars and sadhus.

Devotees often offer them hefty alms and eatables. Most of the beggars can be spotted at the community kitchens run by voluntary and religious organisations for the pilgrims.

Despite strictness by the police, they often reach the Sangam area where people take a holy dip. Beggars play on their sentiments after the dip to seek alms.

Local who have been witness to the Kumbhs and Ardh Kumbhs lament that the beggars often do not use the money for food. ''They use the money to buy drugs...the Mela is the place where they get money easily and at times beyond their expectations,'' said Abhimanyu Upadhyay of the state government who has been posted at the Ardh Kumbh Nagar.

''It is easier said than done...we cannot actually arrest them for begging as at the face of it they do it for food and clothes.

But it is a fact that most of their earning goes into drugs and at times gambling,'' said a police official at the Kotwali here.

UNI