Irvine, CaLifornia: Thousands of Hindus gathered Sunday at UC Irvine during a rare Kumbha Mela religious festival to help bring spiritual peace to devotees and to the world on the eve of Sept. 11. "We hope today’s celebration, held on the day before 9/11, can bring positive energy and peace to the Earth," said Rama Kumar of Orange, one of the organizers. In India, the festival is held at irregular intervals four times within each 12-year period and draws millions of devotees.
More than 18 Southern California organizations took part in the festival, which featured a quarter-mile procession with an estimated 4,000 chanting marchers who carried pictures and images of deities and spiritual leaders from various temples
