Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India began bathing in sacred waters on Monday as the Kumbh Mela festival opened, with organisers expecting 400 million people — the largest gathering of humanity.
The millennia-old Kumbh Mela, a show of religious piety and ritual bathing — and a logistical challenge of staggering proportions — is held at the site where the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
In the cool pre-dawn gloom, pilgrims surged forward to begin bathing in the waters.
“I feel great joy,” said Surmila Devi, 45. “For me, it’s like bathing in nectar.”
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