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

This year's Maha Kumbh holds even greater significance, as it aligns with unique celestial configurations that occur once every 144 years, amplifying its spiritual importance.

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.

The Maha Kumbh Mela, or the Great Pitcher Festival, will bring more than 400 million people to Prayagraj city in northern India over a period of six weeks starting Monday, making it the largest gathering of humanity in the world.

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!

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.

A six-week Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival begins in India on Monday, a Hindu sacred event that will be the world's largest gathering of humanity as it showcases religion, spirituality, tourism and crowd management.

Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India began bathing in sacred waters on Monday as the Kumbh Mela festival opened, with organisers expecting 400 million people — the largest gathering

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,

Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh will be on a unique mix of faith, tradition and human raw and unrefined. This great event is for pilgrims, explorers and hungry souls to fulfill their desires making a really great experience.

Millions of Hindu pilgrims gathered on Tuesday at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers to take part in the first holy bath of the Kumbh Mela, the world's largest religious gathering.