MAHATMA GANDHI'S last remaining ashes arrived in this northern Indian town yesterday to a frenzied welcome before their immersion in the Ganges nearly 50 years after his death.
Some 2,000 people were at the station to see the ashes, sealed in a cardboard box. They shouted slogans praising India's independence hero and the apostle of nonviolence.
The crowd surged to greet Gandhi's great grandson, Mr Tushar Gandhi, who had managed to get the ashes released for ritual immersion in the Ganges.
Mr Gandhi, a graphics designer, said he was awed by the reception in Allahabad, where hundreds of people had gathered outside the railway station to pay homage to the ashes.
Asked how he felt, he said: "Great. I am overwhelmed by the public response. I am proud to be his great grandson."
The ashes, rediscovered after lying forgotten in a bank vault for almost 50 years, are to be immersed at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers today in the presence of the Prime Minister, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda.
Mr Rakesh Vishwaratna, a law student, said at the station: "I have never seen Mahatma Gandhi in my life. At least I can see his ashes. He was a great human being. It is a pity more people have not turned up."
Mr Prem Chandra (68), who had seen Mahatma Gandhi three times and was present in Allahabad in February 1948 when his ashes were brought for ritual immersion a month after his death, agreed with the sentiment.
"At that time the station was overflowing with people," he said. "People don't have faith in Gandhi any more. People seem to dislike politics."
Witnesses said admirers with marigolds and roses rushed to the flower bedecked carriage when the train entered Allahabad at 9:30 p.m. (4 p.m. Irish time), more than two hours behind schedule. Mr Gandhi took the ashes a long a 2 km route to a state guest house where they were to be kept until this morning.
The ashes began their final pilgrimage on Tuesday after they were handed over to Mr Gandhi, who won a two year legal battle to claim them, in Cuttack on the east coast. His great grandfather's ashes had been shared out among India's states for immersion according to Hindu custom following Gandhi's murder by a fanatic in 1948. The ashes in Cuttack, however, were reserved for use in a monument before they were forgotten.