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In early January, pilgrims arrived at the newly transformed site, about the size of 7,500 football fields, in Prayagraj.
1月初，朝圣者們抵達了普拉亞格拉杰這片新改造的場地，面積約相當于7500個足球場大小。
Some will stay for a few days while others braved the full six weeks.
有些人會停留幾天，而有些人則會堅持度過整整六周的時間。
To host the millions of attendees, the Indian government has constructed an "Ephemeral Mega City," in the words of Rahul Mehrotra, co-author of the Harvard study with Eck.
用與埃克共同進行哈佛研究的拉胡爾·梅赫羅特拉的話來說，為了接待數百萬的參與者，印度政府建造了一座“短暫的巨型城市”。
"This is not a pop-up city," he clarifies. "It is a very deliberate, formal state enterprise and that is what makes it absolutely unique."
“這不是一座臨時搭建的城市，”他解釋道，“這是一項經過深思熟慮的、正式的國家工程，這也正是它絕對獨特的地方。”
The temporary settlement is arranged on a grid, and its layout is pronounced enough to be seen from space.
這座臨時定居點呈網格狀布局，其布局清晰到從太空中都能看到。
"The government builds miles and miles of roads and bridges," Eck adds. "They are fairly wide avenues, as well."?
“政府修建了數英里長的道路和橋梁，”埃克補充道，“而且這些道路也相當寬闊。”
The thousands of buildings used to house visitors and services must be constructed in the two months following the floods and before the event.
用來接待游客和提供服務的數千座建筑，必須在洪水退去后的兩個月內、活動開始前建造完成。
The red, white, and yellow city is made primarily from canvas fabric, bamboo poles, and twine, though the occasional structure is built using corrugated tin.
這座紅、白、黃相間的城市主要由帆布、竹竿和麻繩搭建而成，不過偶爾也會有一些用波紋鐵皮建造的建筑。
Sleeping quarters range in style and amenities depending on how much a pilgrim can afford.
住宿的風格和設施因朝圣者的經濟能力而異。
Poorer pilgrims stay in shared spaces like sleeping mats in state-built community tents, which have shared bathrooms and eating areas.
較為貧窮的朝圣者住在國家建造的社區帳篷里的共用空間，比如睡墊上，這些帳篷有公共浴室和用餐區。
Then there are private tents with air conditioning, attached bathrooms, Wi-Fi, and chef-cooked meals.
也有配備空調、獨立衛生間、無線網絡以及廚師烹飪餐食的私人帳篷。
For the most affluent, The Dome City is a new addition to this year's Kumbh Mela.
對于最富有的朝圣者來說，穹頂之城是今年大壺節的新增區域。
A collaboration between India's tourism department and private design-build firms, the area features 44 bubble-like structures made from clear polycarbonate sheets, which are advertised as being both bulletproof and fireproof.?
這是印度旅游部門與私人設計建造公司合作的項目，該區域有44個由透明聚碳酸酯板制成的泡泡狀建筑，宣傳稱這些建筑既防彈又防火。
"It is the largest and cleanest Indian city I have ever lived in," Mehrotra says. He cites two reasons.
“這是我住過的最大、最干凈的印度城市。”梅赫羅特拉說。他給出了兩個原因。
First, the government has hired 10,000 sweepers to "continually cleanse the city" and second, there isn't very much trash to begin with.
首先，政府雇傭了1萬名清潔工來“持續清潔這座城市”；其次，一開始就沒有太多垃圾。
"People who come to the city carry with them frugal means for their existence for a few days," he points out. "Therefore, litter is minimized or at least organized and disposed of, say in the case of the community kitchen."
“來到這里的人們只會攜帶他們在幾天內生存所需的少量物品，”他指出，“因此，垃圾被盡量減少，或者至少被整理好并妥善處理，比如在社區廚房的情況下。”
The government has introduced campaigns to encourage pilgrims to drop just one or two flowers into the water instead of the more traditional garland.
政府發起了一些活動，鼓勵朝圣者只往水中投放一兩朵花，而不是像傳統那樣投放花環。
The result is still a colorful display of devotion, but more manageable for those charged with cleaning the river at the center of this ephemeral city.
這樣的結果仍然是一種色彩斑斕的虔誠展示，但對于那些負責清理這座短暫城市中心河流的人來說，處理起來更加容易。
"Every day, you see people scooping up the flowers and offerings from the river, so that you don't have many feet of sodden offerings along the riverbank," Eck says.
“每天，你都能看到人們從河里撈起鮮花和祭品，這樣河岸就不會堆積幾英尺厚的濕漉漉的祭品了。”埃克說。
It seems an impossible task, given the large number of people who come to the Kumbh Mela, but Eck explains that there are certain standards maintained by the government, including the building of over 30,000 toilets, reinforcing sanitation along the riverbanks where pilgrims gather.
考慮到參加大壺節的人數眾多，這似乎是一項不可能完成的任務，但埃克解釋說，政府維持著一定的標準，包括建造了3萬多座廁所，加強朝圣者聚集的河岸的衛生管理。
Managing sanitation also manages disease, an important public health concern when so many people congregate.
管理好衛生也有助于控制疾病，在如此多的人聚集時，這是一個重要的公共衛生問題。
Though Mehrotra notes that there haven't been any "major public health challenges" for the last three to four cycles of the festival, crowd management remains a concern -- continually evolving to protect and accommodate the hundreds of millions of pilgrims.
盡管梅赫羅特拉指出，在過去的三到四個節日周期中沒有出現過“重大公共衛生挑戰”，但人群管理仍然是一個問題--需要不斷改進，以保護和容納數億朝圣者。
