PATNA: At least 46 people, including 37 children, have drowned while celebrating a Hindu festival in eastern India, a local government official said on Thursday. The victims drowned in separate incidents in Bihar state while ritually bathing in rivers and ponds swollen by recent flooding, an official from the Bihar Disaster Management Dep­a­r­tment told . “People ignored dangerous water levels in rivers as well as ponds while bathing to celebrate this festival,” said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The drownings occu­rred from Tuesday across 15 districts of Bihar state as devotees marked the Jitiya Parv Hindu festival, obse­rved by mothers for the wellbeing of their children. Authorities were still wor­­king to recover three oth­­er bodies, the official said. Jitiya Parv runs over sev­eral days and is also observed in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Jhark­hand states, and in parts of Nepal’s southern plains. The Bihar state government has announced com­pe­nsation for each of the victims’ families, the government official said. Last year local media reported 22 people drow­ned during a 24-hour period in Bihar, most while marking the same festival. Deadly incidents are common at places of worship during major religious festivals in India, the biggest of which prompt millions of devotees to make pilgrimages to holy sites. At least 116 people were to death in July at an overcrowded Hindu religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh state, the worst such tragedy in more than a decade. India is hit by torrential rains and flash floods each year during the June-September monsoon season. The monsoon is vital for agriculture, and therefore for the livelihoods of millions of farmers.