The Kumbh Mela festival, the largest religious gathering in the world, has begun in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj.

India's Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, is set to be the world's largest gathering of humanity, with 400 million visitors expected at the six-week event that began this week in the northern city of Prayagraj.

Over the coming 45 days, an estimated 400 million Hindus are expected to come together for Maha Kumbh Mela. The festival is held every 12 years but the "Maha" or grand Kumbh Mela takes place only every 144 years, "marking the 12th Kumbh Mela and a special celestial alignment of the sun, moon and Jupiter", said The Guardian.

An Indian woman’s daring skydive at 13,000 feet with the Maha Kumbh flag has gone viral, captivating millions and spotlighting Maha Kumbh Mela 2025. Watch the inspiring video!

Nearly 15 million Hindus, six times the number expected, took a dip in freezing waters seeking absolution of their sins on Monday, the first day of India's festival that could draw the world's largest single gathering of humanity.

Esri India launched a user-friendly GIS-based web application in Hindi and English for the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 in Prayagraj, offering pilgrims essent

India began on Monday its Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, which is expected to draw more than 400 million visitors to the northern city of Prayagraj over six weeks, making for the largest gathering of humanity in the world.

Organisers of India's Kumbh Mela have prepared to host a staggering 400 million devotees at the six-week Hindu festival that starts Monday and is expected to be the largest human gathering in history.

While the Kumbh Mela festival is ordinarly held every three years, rotating between several holy cities on the banks of these rivers, the Maha Kumbh Mela occurs only once every 12 years. Maha means “great”, and the event attracts the most devotees because it is considered the most auspicious and holy in the cycle.

As the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 unfolds in Prayagraj, memories of my experience at Ujjain’s Simhasth Kumbh Mela in 2016 resurface. Battling scorching heat, I toured akhadas, met revered spiritual leaders,