Explained What is the Kumbh Mela holy gathering?

What is the Kumbh Mela? The Kumbh Mela is the world's largest religious gathering, widely seen as the "festival of festivals" in the Hindu religious calendar.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent

This year it is being held in the north Indian city of Prayagraj, where it takes place every 12 years.

Its origins lie in ancient Hindu mythology and the legend of demons and gods fighting over a pitcher, or kumbh, of the nectar of immortality, and drops falling to the earth in four Indian cities.

During the 45-day festival, Hindu holy men, known as sadhus, and hundreds of millions of devotees set up camp and take a dip in the triveni sangam, the sacred confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers in Prayagraj, which they believe will cleanse their sins and free them from the cycle of reincarnation.

Smaller versions of the Kumbh Mela take place every three years, but the iteration held in Prayagraj is considered to be the biggest and most spiritually significant.

This year's celebration, which is expected to continue until 26 February, is particularly auspicious as it is the Maha, or grand Kumbh Mela, which takes place once every 144 years.

It is the 12th Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj and a special celestial alignment of the sun, the moon, Jupiter and Saturn.

How big is the Kumbh Mela? Even in a country as big and populous as India, the scale of the Kumbh Mela is staggering. The government said it expected 400 million visitors - larger than the population of the US - over the 45 days of this Kumbh Mela, which would be a record. In 2019, a smaller version of the festival in Haridwar attracted 240 million.