Millions of Hindu worshippers from across India gathered in the northern city of Prayagraj to start the Maha Kumbh festival, AP News reported.
Over the next six weeks, Hindu pilgrims will gather at the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. There they will take part in elaborate rituals, hoping to achieve a release from the cycle of rebirths.
Believers think that immersion in waters will cleanse them of past sins and complete the process of reincarnation. The most auspicious of these days occur in cycles of 12 years during a festival called the Maha Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival.
Ablutions take place every day, but the naked, ash-covered monks rush to the sacred rivers at dawn on the most auspicious days. Many pilgrims stay for the entire festival, observing austerities, giving alms and performing ablutions at sunrise each day.
A smaller version of the festival, Ardh (Half) Kumbh, was organised in 2019, with 240 million visitors registered. Of these, around 50 million performed the ritual ablution on the busiest day.
World’s largest gathering
At least 400 million people are expected at Prayagraj over the next 45 days. That’s about 200 times more than the 2 million pilgrims who travelled to the holy Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage last year.
The festival site is equipped with more than 3,000 kitchens and 150,000 toilets. Divided into 25 sections and stretching over 40 square kilometres (15 square miles), the tent city also has housing, roads, electricity and water, communication towers and 11 hospitals.
Indian Railways has also launched over 90 special trains that will make around 3,300 journeys during the festival to transport the worshippers. Around 50,000 security personnel have also been deployed in the city to maintain law and order and contain the crowds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support is also expected to strengthen the festival. The Uttar Pradesh state headed by Yogi Adityanath, a popular Hindu monk and politician in Modi’s party, has allocated over $765 million for this year’s event.
The event will reinforce the past record of the ruling Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party in promoting Hindu cultural symbols.
