Millions of Hindu devotees have joined the world’s largest religious gathering at a holy city in northern India, bathing in its sacred waters in a spectacle of color and devotion.
A staggering 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, which began January 13 and runs until February 26 in the city of Prayagraj.
Safety concerns over the sheer number of people concentrated in one place were heightened last month following a fatal crowd crush at the festival. However, throngs of people have continued to gather in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers – the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati – to purify their sins and take another step closer to “spiritual liberation.”
Every 12 years the festival carries the prefix “Maha,” which means great, as it’s the largest gathering of the Kumbh Mela that’s held every three years in one of four cities.
The gathering is particularly well known for attracting large crowds of Hindu holy men, or sadhus, who travel from across the country. Sadhus are ascetics who have renounced worldly goods and life and are famous for their dreadlocks, ash-covered bodies and bright – sometimes minimal – clothing.
