DAILY LIFE JANUARY 2013

DAILY LIFE JANUARY 2013Daily LifeAfghanistan January 2013India - Maha Khumbh MelaFebruary 8, 20131PPS by chieuquetoi, bachkien, vinhbinh

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For this edition of our look at daily life we share images from Pakistan, Turkey, Belarus, Germany, El Salvador, Spain, Portugal and a few others from around the world. --Lloyd Young(38 photos total)Pakistani children, who were displaced with their families from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between militants and the army, watch a girl skipping a rope, while playing in an alley of a neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on Jan. 28. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)February 8, 20132Click to continue

A picture taken from Galata Tower shows a seagull flying over the snow-covered old city of Istanbul on Jan. 9. Heavy snowfall blanketed Turkey's commercial hub Istanbul, a city of 15 millions, paralyzing daily life, disrupting air traffic and land transport. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 20133Click to continue

Afghan children play in a street in Herat on Jan. 14. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty, as those in power are more concerned about addressing their vested interests rather than the basic needs of the population, a UN report said. (Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 20134Click to continue

A Belarus Orthodox believer plunges into icy waters as a priest blesses him on the eve of the Epiphany holiday in Pilnitsa some 30 km outside Minsk, on Jan.18. Thousands of believers jump into holes cut in ice, braving freezing temperatures to mark the Epiphany when they take part in a baptism ceremony. (Viktor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 20135

A model is pictured during rehearsals at L'Oreal Professionnel Academy for the show of the label C'est tout at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Berlin, on Jan. 11. Look rehearsals are used to prepare the styling of the models for the fashion shows. (Jens Kalaene/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 20136Click to continue

The landmark "Tiger & Turtle" sculpture that resembles a roller coaster is pictured at the former zinc smeltery's grounds Krupp Mannesmann in the Angerpark in Duisburg-Wanheim on Jan. 13. One hundred twenty tons of galvanized steel are mounted and welded for the sculpture on the heap. The walkway area will amount to 220 meters including 249 steps. (Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 20137

A man sits in a tent while ice fishing at sunrise in the Lake Vileika near the Belarus village of Kasun, some130 km north of the capital Minsk early on Jan. 2. (Viktor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 20138Click to continue

A young skater picks himself up from the ice on a rink at Penn's Landing, on Jan. 11 in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke/Associated Press)#February 8, 20139

Indian visitors watch a heart shaped kite fly during the International Kite festival on the lawns of Priyadarshani park in Mumbai on Jan. 7. Kite enthusiasts from different countries are participating in the day-long festival. (Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201310

Members of the brotherhood of Saint Sebatian Matyr participate in the dance of The Moors and Christians in the town of Apastepeque, 50 kms east from San Salvador, El Salvador on Jan. 16. The members of the Saint Sebastian brotherhood dance in the honor of the co-patron saint of Apatepeque. The Moors and Christians dance tells the adventures of the crusaders and is celebrated from more than 300 years ago. (Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201311

A boy wearing a crown watches the Cabalgata Los Reyes Magos (Cavalcade of the three kings) the day before Epiphany, in Pamplona, northern Spain on Jan. 5. It is a parade symbolizing the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem following the birth of Jesus. In Spain and many Latin American countries Epiphany is the day when gifts are exchanged. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)#February 8, 201312

A woman stops to pat "Manchas" or "Spots", a pet pig being walked by its owner Claudia Botas, in the background, in Lisbon's Graca neighborhood, on Jan. 12. (Francisco Seco/Associated Press)#February 8, 201313

A man dressed as a 'Momotxorro' a natural entity made of bones and sheep skin walks to take part in a carnival in the Basque village of Zubieta on Jan. 28. In one of the most ancient carnivals in Europa , dating from before the Roman empire, companies of Joaldunak (cowbells) and Momotxorros parade between the villages of Zubieta and Ituren. (Daniel Ochoa De Olza/Associated Press)#February 8, 201314Click to continue

Dylan Belanger, 8, of Royal Palm Beach, holds onto a horn as Cora, a 51-year-old Indian elephant, blows a note during an afternoon performance at the new Elephant Encounter on opening day of the South Florida Fair on Jan. 18 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Cora was in the 1980 film Smokey and the Bandit II. (Allen Eyestone/Palm Beach Post via Associated Press)#February 8, 201315

Participants jump with their sled during the traditional Schnablerrennen sledge race in a valley near the Bavarian village Gaissach, southern Germany, on Jan. 27. More than 70 teams took part in the traditional event. (Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201316

With temperatures around 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit), a man plays in the surf, with some thousands celebrating the New Year by jumping into the North Sea during the traditional New Year's Dive in Ostend, Belgium, on Jan. 5. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press)#February 8, 201317

Kashmiri boys play in the snow in Srinagar, India, on Jan. 19. Snowfall in the Indian portion of Kashmir has disrupted power supply and road traffic between Srinagar and Jammu. (Dar Yasin/Associated Press)#February 8, 201318

Duane Griffith is dragged upside down across Wolf River Harbor to bare foot ski backwards during the 36th annual Ski Freeze in Wolf River Harbor in Downtown Memphis, Tenn., on Jan. 1. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal via Associated Press)#February 8, 201319

South Korean special warfare forces take part in a winter season drill in Pyeongchang, about 180 km east of Seoul on Jan. 9. The Korean peninsula is the world's last Cold War frontier as Stalinst North Korea and pro-Western South Korea have been technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict. (DONG-A ILBO/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201320

Aaron Kunkle is airborne as he back flips out of the bowl at the Memphis Skate Park on Jan. 2 in Memphis, Tenn. Temperatures hovering in the mid 30's didn't keep skate and bike enthusiasts away from the park. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal via Associated Press)#February 8, 201321

A Palestinian man rides a horse on the beach at sunset in the central Gaza strip on Jan. 11. (Ali Ali/European Photopress Agency)#February 8, 201322

A man and woman walk along a path at Fort Funston after the sun set in San Francisco on Jan. 18 (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)#February 8, 201323

Two passengers brave the frigid weather while riding outside on a ferry crossing Casco Bay in Portland, Me., on Jan. 3. The overnight low temperature dropped to zero degrees Fahrenheit in Portland. The combination of cold air and warmer ocean water created the arctic sea smoke. (Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press)#February 8, 201324

Steam rises from Ryan Dignan after Arizona State University's swim team practice at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on Jan. 14 in Tempe. (Mark Henle/Associated Press)#February 8, 201325

Tony Bambenek of Bluff Siding, Wis., fishes on Jan. 11 at East Lake Winona. Despite the 40-degree temperature, ice on the lake remains around 10 inches. I like this weather, Bambenek said. "It's better than 20 below, I wouldn't be out here if it was that cold." (Andrew Link/Winona Daily News via Associated Press)#February 8, 201326

Participants of the Five Lakes Skating Tour are transported on a tractor to avoid a stretch of bad ice in Wanneperveen, near Giethoorn, northern Netherlands, on Jan. 24. Some 15,000 skating enthusiasts participated in the first tour on natural ice, but a stretch of rapidly deteriorating ice in Wanneperveen forced organizers to call off the tour after a few hours. Dutch police later stopped people from reaching the area. (Peter Dejong/Associated Press)#February 8, 201327

A man cleans the snow-covered tomb at the Neue Wache (New Guard House), the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Tyranny in Berlin on Jan. 14. (Markus Schreiber/Associated Press)#February 8, 201328

Two sisters light candles during an Orthodox Christmas service in a church in the village of Sokuluk some 30km outside Bishkek on Jan. 6. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7 in the Middle East, Russia and other Orthodox churches that use the old Julian calendar instead of the 17th-century Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox and commonly used in secular life around the world. (Vyacheslav Osleledko/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201329

Homeless Bratislav Jovanovic, 43, enters a grave, which he uses as a shelter during winter time at a cemetery in Nis, 200 kilometres south Belgrade, on Jan. 10. Jovanovic has been homeless for nearly twenty years, since his house was burned down in a fire. The last 15 years he lives in a tomb beside the caskets of his decedents. (Sasa Djordjevic/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201330

An Indian woman from Ladakh region offers prayers at the Boudhanath Stupa premise in Katmandu, Nepal, on Jan. 18. Thousands of people temporarily migrate to Katmandu from hilly regions of Nepal and India to escape the cold weather during winter. (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press)#February 8, 201331

Elder Cal Murrell, also known as "the happy preacher," reacts during a service celebrating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., inside the State Capitol on Jan. 17 in Atlanta. (David Goldman/Associated Press)#February 8, 201332

Children play in a portable pool set up in a street lined by shack homes in the Juan Pablo II shantytown in Santiago, Chile, on Jan. 23. European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering for this weekends economic summit will likely see only one side of Chile, the polished upscale country where tourists and investors stay in five-star hotels in a sparkling clean financial district nicknamed "Sanhattan", well away from Santiago's slums. (Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press)#February 8, 201333

Malian children look inside a car on Jan. 27 in Konna, Mali. French-led troops were advancing on Mali's fabled desert city of Timbuktu on Sunday after capturing a string of other towns in their offensive against Islamist militant groups in the north of the country. Meanwhile, African leaders meeting in the Ethiopian capital were discussing scaling up the number of African troops to join the offensive, after the African Union's outgoing chief admitted the body had not done enough to help Mali. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201334

A man casts his fishing rod to the Atlantic sea at the coast of Barbate, Cadiz province, southern Spain, on Jan. 1. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)#February 8, 201335

A boy rushes to catch up to his mother as she helps others carry a large fishing net back home, outside of Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 19. (Jon Gambrell/Associated Press)#February 8, 201336

A child walks amidst Douglas fir trees during a family outing at the base of Spencer Butte on Jan. 22 in Eugene, Ore. (Brian Davies/The Register-Guard via Associated Press)#February 8, 201337

Children play with bubbles during events celebrating the 12th anniversary of the village of Kuetuvy on Jan. 20 in the Canindeyu department of Paraguay. The Ache are hunter-gatherers whose population of roughly 1,200 is distributed in five villages in eastern Paraguay. They also celebrated the recent success of their exports to the United States of shade-grown, organic yerba mate, a drink brewed from the leaves of the rainforest holly tree. In 2010, Paraguay's Congress gave them formal title to the land. (Jorge Saenz/Associated Press)#February 8, 201338

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A rainbow is seen in the West Bank Judean desert on Jan. 7. Stormy weather, including high winds and heavy rainfall, lashed Israel and the Palestinian territories, downing power lines and trees and causing several injuries. (Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)#February 8, 201339

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February 8, 201340Our nation's presence in Afghanistan made its way back to the collective conscience last week when Afghan President Hamid Karzai appeared in a joint press conference with President Barack Obama. This post features a few images of daily life from late December and the first few weeks of January. Simple things - shelter, food - remain challenges for many of the Afghan people - displaced by years and years of conflict and war. -Paula Nelson(30 photos total)An Afghan woman stands to receive winter supplies at a UNHCR distribution center for needy refugees at the Women's Garden in Kabul, Jan. 2, 2013. Hundreds of families living in makeshift shelters around the Afghan capital collected blankets, charcoal and other supplies as authorities struggle to avoid last year's deadly winter toll. With temperatures dropping to -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) at night in the city, the 35,000 refugees who live in the snow-covered camps face a battle to survive dire conditions protected only by plastic sheeting. Despite Afghanistan receiving billions of dollars of aid since 2001, more than 100 children died last year during the harshest winter in two decades. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

February 8, 201341Pigeons fly outside Shah-e-Doshamshera's mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 24, 2012. (Ahmad Nazar/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201342Afghan boys play on a frozen lake in Kabul, Jan. 9, 2013. (Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)#

February 8, 201343Hayatullah, 35, who like most Afghans goes by only one name, carries a bag of cooked rice left over from customers in a Kabul restaurant, Jan. 9, 2013. Hayatuallah lost a leg to a land mine in Shamali plain, north of Kabul during the deadly Afghan civil war of 1991-1996. Afghanistan is still one of the heavily mined countries in the world despite international efforts to clean the poverty-nation from millions of mines that were planted by the former Soviet ary between 1979 and 1987, followed by a deadly civil war between Afghan faction that defeated the Russian and Taliban who rulled the troubled country between 1996 and 2001 and now waging an insurgency against the NATO forces and use roadside bombings, improvised explosives devices as a main weapon in their war tactics. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201344A woman mourns after loosing her son and brother in an explosion in Sayedabad, Wardak southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 13, 2013. An explosion killed seven Afghan villagers as they tried to pull bodies of insurgents killed from the rubble of a village mosque after a night raid by NATO and Afghan troops in the country's east, officials said. Four insurgents and an Afghan soldier were also reported to have been killed. (Rahmatullah Nikzad/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201345An Afghan family walks on a road in winter on the outskirts of Kabul, Jan. 3, 2013. (Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)#

February 8, 201346An Afghan worker looks out from a window at a fruit factory which was destroyed by a car suicide bomb attack, in Kabul Dec. 21, 2012. When a Taliban suicide bomber killed two people on the edge of the Afghan capital this month, there was another casualty - a global fruit juice business optimistically called "Spring Wish" which provided work for thousands of farmers across the country. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)#

February 8, 201347An Afghan girl looks through the window of a residence, Dec. 26, 2012. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty, as those in power are more concerned about addressing their vested interests rather than the basic needs of the population, a UN report said. (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201348Afghan burqa clad women look in a store in Herat, Jan. 8 ,2013. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty. (Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Image

February 8, 201349Afghan women are transported in the back of a three wheeled motorbike after receiving a sack of flour each, donated by the women's affairs department, in the Gozara district, Herat province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 26, 2012. The women's affairs department of Herat province donated a sack of flour to around 250 families in the Gozara district. (Hoshang Hashimi/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201350An Afghan rickshaw driver smiles as he drives in the cold weather in Kabul, Dec. 31, 2012. (SHAH Marai/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201351An Afghan beggar sits on the ground on a street in Herat, Jan. 8 ,2013. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty. (Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201352Afghan children warm themselves around fire on a cold day in Kabul, Jan. 8, 2013. Despite Afghanistan receiving billions of dollars of aid since 2001, more than 100 children died last year during the harshest winter in two decades. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201353A vendor sells traditional food at a local market in Kabul, Jan. 7, 2013. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)#

February 8, 201354Afghan children sell handicrafts to a NATO soldier during a monthly bazaar at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul, Jan. 5, 2013. Analysts have warned the country could plunge into another large-scale civil war after the NATO-led force departs by 2015. (Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201355

Afghan internal refugee children work at a traditional brick factory on the outskirts of Herat, Jan. 7, 2013. In 2012 alone, spreading conflict in Afghanistan has forced more than 166,000 Afghans to flee their homes, bringing the total number of people internally displaced by conflict to at least 460,000 since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Conditions for the displaced have fallen well below international standards, according to a 2012 study by the Norwegian Refugee council. (Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201356Afghan security officials arrested 8 Taliban militants who were trying to smuggle bomb making material on Kandahar Highway and displayed them to the media, Dec. 26, 2012. (Naweed Haqjoo/EPA)#

February 8, 201357A laborer sorts wheat flour sacks to be distributed among Afghan vulnerable families threatened by Afghanistans harsh winter weather, by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2013. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) says more than two million Afghans throughout the country are at risk from extreme weather this winter. During the 2011 Winter, more than 30 Afghans - most of them children - froze to death when the country witnessed one of the harshest winters in the past 15 years with record snowfall. (S. Sabawoon/EPA)#

February 8, 201358Afghan vulnerable families threatened by the Afghanistans harsh winter weather wait to receive winter goods distributed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2013. (S. Sabawoon/EPA)#

February 8, 201359Afghan boys play in snow, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 28, 2012. (S. Sabawoon/EPA)#

February 8, 201360A local resident transports shovels during a heavy snow fall, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 28, 2012. (S. Sabawoon/EPA)#

February 8, 201361Afghan displaced families receive winter goods distributed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 27, 2012. More than 2 million Afghans are at risk from extreme weather this winter. (S. Sabawoon/EPA)#

February 8, 201362Displaced Afghani children wait to receive winter goods distributed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 27, 2012. (S. Sabawoon/EPA)#

February 8, 201363Burkha-clad women of displaced afghani families arrive to receive winter goods distributed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (S. Sabawooon/EPA)#

February 8, 201364An Afghan girl holds an umbrella as she walks on a snowy day on the outskirts of Kabul, Dec. 27, 2012. (Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)#

February 8, 201365An Afghan internally displaced girl stands in the falling snow at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec, 27. 2012. Temperatures dropped to 1 degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) in Kabul. (Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201366An Afghan man walks with his goat in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 27, 2012. (Ahamd Jamshid/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201367A dove caretaker feeds white doves in front of the blue mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2012. It is believed that whoever releases a white dove will have a wish come true. (Maurizio Gambarini/EPA)#

February 8, 201368Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a news conference in Kabul, Jan. 14, 2013. A decision on immunity for U.S. troops staying in Afghanistan after the 2014 planned withdrawal will be made by the end of the year, Karzai said. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters)#

February 8, 201369U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai shake hands at the conclusion of a news conference at the White House in Washington, Jan. 11, 2013. (Kevin Lamarque/Reute)#

February 8, 201370Held only once every twelve years, the cleansing ritual of the Maha Kumbh Mela sees up to a hundred million Hindu devotees symbolically bathe away their sins in the holy Ganges River. It is thought to be the largest gathering of humanity on earth. For 55 days devotees wade into the river to bathe, and join other religious observations on the banks of the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. Various sadhu and sadhvi (holy men and women) abound. The Maha Kumbh Mela began this year on January 14, with preparations starting weeks earlier. -Lane Turner(37 photos total)Maha Kumbh Mela

February 8, 201371Hindu devotees bathe in the waters of the holy Ganges river during the auspicious bathing day of Makar Sankranti of the Maha Kumbh Mela on January 14, 2013 in Allahabad, India. The Maha Kumbh Mela, believed to be the largest religious gathering on earth, is held every 12 years on the banks of Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. The Kumbh Mela alternates between the cities of Nasik, Allahabad, Ujjain and Haridwar every three years. The Maha Kumbh Mela celebrated at the holy site of Sangam in Allahabad, is the largest and holiest. Celebrated over 55 days, it is expected to attract over 100 million people. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

February 8, 201372Hindu devotees take a dip at Sangam as others cross a makeshift bridge on the first day of the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 14, 2013. Millions of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take part in the large religious congregation, where devotees wash themselves in the waters of the Ganges believing that it washes away their sins and ends the process of reincarnation. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201373Tents of sadhus - holy men - are pitched on the banks of Sangam on January 7, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201374An Indian Hindu priest and a devotee take part during an evening prayer ritual known as Arti at Sangam on January 15, 2013. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Pre

February 8, 201375Hindu devotees perform rituals as they gather to take the holy dip at Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Stringer/EPA)#

February 8, 201376Hindu devotees are seen at Sangam through a saree hung for drying after a holy dip on January 15, 2013. (Manish Swarup/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201377Indian devotees bathe and offer prayers at the banks of Sangam on January 13, 2013. (Anindito Mukherjee/EPA)#

February 8, 201378Hindu devotees bathe in the waters of Sangam on January 15, 2013. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)#

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February 8, 201379An Indian Hindu holy man, or Naga Sadhu, prays while taking a dip at Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201380A man dressed as Kali, the Hindu goddess of power, performs with a burning camphor tablet on his tongue during a religious procession in Allahabad on January 6, 2013. (Jitendra Prakash/Reuters)#

February 8, 201381Indian laborers pull a pontoon for a temporary bridge toward the Ganga river during preparations for Kumbh Mela at Sangam on November 21, 2012. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201382An Indian holy man walks along a pontoon bridge at the banks of Sangam on January 12, 2013. (Anindito Mukherjee/EPA)#

February 8, 201383Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev (top left on float) throws garlands to devotees during a procession ahead of Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 10, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201384Indian local band members play as holy men start their procession for bathing at the banks of Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Anindito Mukherjee/EPA)#

February 8, 201385A man transports garlands of marigold flowers on a trishaw along the banks of the Ganges river ahead of Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 11, 2013. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)#

February 8, 201386Women stand on a road with flowers to welcome a religious procession of holy men during the Maha Kumbh Mela at the Sangam on January 11, 2013. (Manish Swarup/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201387An Indian Hindu holy man bathes at Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201388A holy man performs evening prayers on the bank of the Ganga River in Allahabad on January 15, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201389A holy man stands naked next to a priest during an evening prayer ceremony known as Arti at Sangam on January 15, 2013. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201390A holy man walks into the water during an evening prayer ceremony known as Arti at Sangam on January 15, 2013. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201391A man drinks as he prays at Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201392Devotees bathe in the waters of the holy Ganges river during the auspicious bathing day of Makar Sankranti of the Maha Kumbh Mela on January 14, 2013 in Allahabad. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201393Holy men celebrate naked in the water at Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)#

February 8, 201394Holy men line up along the banks of Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201395Holy men carry a child adorned with marigold flowers on their shoulders as they march towards Sangham on January 14, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201396Holy men keep warm by a fire and do yoga at their camp on the bank of Sangam on December 22, 2012, ahead of the Maha Kumbh Mela. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201397Devotees pray as they bathe in the Sangham on January 14, 2013. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201398A holy man - his face smeared with ash - smiles for a photograph at the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati in Allahabad on January 2, 2013, ahead of The Maha Kumbh Mela. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 201399A holy man shouts while holding a sword after he and others like him ran into the waters of the Sangham on January 14, 2013. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 2013100Holy men dry their hair after a dip at Sangam on January 14, 2013. (Manish Swarup/Associated Press)#

February 8, 2013101Devotees enter the waters at the Sangham on January 13, 2013. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 2013102Devotees carry their possessions as they walk towards the banks of the holy Ganges river on January 13, 2013 in Allahabad. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)#

February 8, 2013103Workers fix a light post on the vast grounds receiving the millions of devotees that will congregate for the next couple of months to celebrate the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 13, 2013. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 2013104Indian boatmen wait for passengers ahead of the Kumbh Mela at Sangam on January 12, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#

February 8, 2013105Hindu priests carry plates filled with offerings to distribute among devotees after evening prayers near the banks of river Ganges in Allahabad on January 12, 2013. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)#

February 8, 2013106Devotees pray at Sangam on January 16, 2013. (Manish Swarup/Associated Press)#

February 8, 2013107A candle burns on an offering floating downstream at the Sangham on January 13, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)#THE ENDPPS by chieuquetoi, bachkien, vinhbinh