The Hindu festival Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering of people on Earth, began this Monday in northern India as a saffron tide of pilgrims crowded to the banks at the confluence of the sacred rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati, to bathe in their waters in accordance with tradition.
The pilgrimage of tens of thousands of Hindu devotees began under a thick fog that this morning hid the sun almost completely over Prayagraj, the site of the Kumbh Mela, and over the next six weeks it is expected to welcome about 450 million visitors.
The aim of the long caravans of worshippers, coming from every corner of India and abroad, is to bathe in the sacred waters of these rivers, for in mythology this act purifies sins, frees them from the endless cycle of reincarnation and brings them closer to spiritual liberation, the ultimate moksha.
“It is my first Kumbh Mela; it is incredible. I did not expect there to be so many people,” said a young man from New Delhi who was waiting for his turn to bathe, only a few meters from the shore as his friend prepared to return.
To accommodate all the faithful like Prabhakar, authorities have erected a temporary city near Prayagraj, housing around 160,000 shelters and about 150,000 portable toilets.
During the long march toward the rivers, saffron is typically the dominant color, especially in the robes of the sadhus, Hindu ascetics smeared with ash and with long hair, who flock in huge numbers to every edition of the festival.
Another first-time devotee was Amit Prajapati, who said that after bathing in the cold waters he would visit the akharas, camps that function as monasteries for ascetics and saints.
This Monday is regarded as one of the six most auspicious days for immersion in the sacred waters, a day that typically draws larger crowds than the others.
The mass of people on the banks was such that loudspeakers constantly announced the names of several individuals who had gone missing amid the sea of people and the constant sound of whistles. The most auspicious bathing days are January 14 and 29, and February 3, 12, and 26, with the last day of the festival on February 26.
After the bath, devotees may linger on the shore, but it is common for them to return to their temporary refuges arranged in camps, where they engage in group prayers or attend sermons by the sadhus.
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In addition to Prayagraj, which hosts the festival every twelve years, the pilgrimage moves among three other sacred river towns: Haridwar in the north, Ujjain in the central region, and Nashik in the west, though those celebrations are typically smaller.