I just got done reading up on Jesus' baptism this morning; I knew that in Orthodox circles that Epiphany was essentially both the end of the 12 days of Christmas when the Wise Men hit town and the date of Jesus' baptism as well.
I somehow just found out that this is the case in the Western church as well via this IMonk post; the baptism gets placed in day 8 of Christmas in Catholic custom and the week after Epiphany in Anglican custom.
That gives some interesting contrast to this story out of India, where a big Hindu baptismal shindig is taking place-
Several million people have been bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers at Allahabad in India, on the opening day of the Kumbh Mela festival.
At least 10 million pilgrims are set to do so by the end of the day.
The event, every 12 years, is billed as the biggest gathering on Earth. More than 100 million people are expected to attend the 55-day festival.
Hindus believe a festival dip will cleanse sins and help bring salvation.
It's an interesting irony that you have Hindus converging on Allahabad, poly-wanna-cracker-theists going to God's City in (I assume) Urdu. It's also ironic that the timing is right after Christians note their Savior's baptism; the one guy who didn't need any sins cleansed did it anyways to create solidarity with His Church-to-be. This is also an extra-special version of Kumbh Mela that happens every twelfth 12-year cycle, so this every 144 year even is rather gross.
The Hindus do need salvation and forgiveness of sins, but only if they have the Savior to provide that salvation would a dunk in the Ganges do any good. It would be interesting to see if any Indian Christians use this as a witnessing tool, pointing out where true forgiveness and salvation comes from rather than a periodic respite from the karmic grind.
[Update 10AM-here's one prayer guide for the 2001 version; "Authorities limit direct Christian witnessing during the Kumbh Mela, but Christians will be on site in Haridwar [the 2001 site], praying for Hindu pilgrims and ready to pray with anyone who desires prayer."]
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