Each site is tied to a sacred river - the Ganges, Godavari or Shipra. A full Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years in the four cities. A half ("Ard") Kumbh is held mid-way between two full Kumbhs.

People offer prayers at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers, during the Maha Kumbh Mela Festival, in Prayagraj, India, on January 13, 2025.

The Kumbh Mela is the world's largest religious gathering, attracting hundreds of millions of Hindu worshippers. Here's how India prepared—and what happens once it's all over.

Over the last 45 days, more than 620 million people – over a third of India’s roughly 1.4 billion population - have attended the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the ...

The Kumbh Mela is held every three years in four cities on the banks of sacred rivers across India. The event held every 12 years in this cycle is prefixed with the term 'maha', or great, as its ...

Kumbh Mela: At A Glance. Every twelve years, tens of millions of men, women and children gather on the flood plain of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers in Allahabad, India, for the Kumbh Mela, the ...

Naga Sadhus or Hindu holy men leave after taking a dip during the first "Shahi Snan" during "Kumbh Mela" or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, previously known as Allahabad, India, Jan. 15, 2019.

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 ...

In 2019, when India held a general election, the Kumbh Mela presented a major political opportunity to Mr. Modi and his party to appeal to a receptive audience of millions. Mr. Modi won that election.