AT THE GATE OF THE GANGES 7

brings a twentieth century touch to the scene! On the
most important day of this festival, when Jupiter enters
the sign of Aquarius, the bathing ghate offer a stupen-
dous spectacle: troops of pilgrims in their thousands
converge to the bank of the sacred river to cleanse
themselves and be fit to pray. This is every sixth and
twelfth year; but, festival or no festival, there are always
pilgrims in Hardwar.

With the earliest glimmerings of dawn a priest
entones the ancient Sanskrit prayers that mingle with
the never-ceasing gurgle of the river; a keen, invigo-
rating breeze blows across the swift waters; the pale
moon fades back into the opalescent sky—a new day has
dawned over Hardwar. Already bathers hasten to the
ghats, already the sun's rays warm the water-forzen
limbs—and so it was with the early Aryans, and so
it is today.