The saffron-clad, ash-smeared holy men, or sadhus, gathered at the fair grounds in Allahabad to demand the state of the waters be improved by Jan. 12, the date of the next great immersion.

Allahabad, the venue of the "Ardh Kumbh Mela" or Half Grand Pitcher festival, is nearly 190 kilometers southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.

Nearly 70 million Hindus are expected to participate in the 45-day festival, one of the largest regular gatherings in the world, and wash themselves in the waters of the Ganges believing that it washes away their sins and ends the process of reincarnation.

However the waters have become polluted, both by the recent offerings of flowers and food cast in by the millions of pilgrims and by years of contamination as industries have dumped waste and cities pumped sewage into the river.

"Millions of people are taking baths in this river because Hindus consider the Ganges a pious river. But the fact is they are taking dip not in river water but in effluents discharged from factories," said Hari Chaitanaya Brahmachari, a leading Hindu holy man and head of a local monastery.

Chaitanaya Brahmachari said he had filed a complaint in court against the government for not taking better care of the holy waters.

The holy man also threatened to drown himself in the river in protest if no action was taken.

"If (the) Ganges is not cleaned within next few days I will take "jal samadhi"," Chaitanaya Brahmchari told The Associated Press from Allahabad, referring to the ritual suicide sometimes committed by sadhus.

Officials said they were making efforts to improve the quality of the water.