60,000 attend British Hindu festival

More than 60,000 pilgrims attended a Hindu festival in Hertfordshire yesterday, organisers said.

The worshippers gathered at Bhaktivedanta Manor, near Watford, which was donated to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness by the late Beatle George Harrison in 1973.

In the largest Hindu festival outside India, the huge crowd attended to celebrate the birthday of Krishna.

Hundreds of children dressed up like the religious figure by painting their faces blue, carrying flutes and wearing peacock feathers in their hair.

Festival-goers passed under a flowered walkway through the spiritual gardens and woodland of Bhaktivedanta Manor.

The organisation has launched the Ahimsa Dairy Foundation, which sells milk from cows that will be allowed to live out their natural lives once their milking days are over.

Ahimsa, which means non-violence, has a herd in Kent in which no cow, calf or bull is ever killed.

Bhaktivedanta Manor also has a farm which supplies the temple with milk and dairy products from protected cattle.