Organizers expect the largest gathering of people in the world, with estimates that around 400 million people will attend, according to AFP.
Related to the thousands-year-old Kumbh Mela, which is known for religious devotion and ritual bathing, but also for enormous logistical challenges, the gathering takes place at the meeting point of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati.
In the chilly hours before sunrise, pilgrims flocked to the water to begin their ritual baths.
– I feel great joy – said Surmila Devi (45). “For me, this is like bathing in nectar.”
Entrepreneur Reena Rai couldn’t hide her excitement as she spoke about the “religious reasons” she decided to join the throngs of pilgrims in tents set up along the riverbank in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj.
– As a Hindu, this is an opportunity I must not miss – said 38-year-old Rai, who traveled about 1,000 kilometers from the Indian federal state of Madhya Pradesh to participate in this festival, which lasts from Monday to February 26.
Monks in saffron robes and naked ascetics covered in ash walk among the crowd, offering blessings to worshippers, many of whom have walked for weeks to reach this holiest place in Hinduism.
(Vijesti.ba/FENA)
