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. Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

The Maha Kumbh Mela has always been an important symbol of Hinduism, though it was usually not politicized until the recent rise of the idea of India as a Hindu nation.

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 Maha Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival in India that is drawing hundreds of millions of pilgrims, is a powerful marketing tool for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies.

Reuters. A Sadhu or a Hindu holy man, prepares to light a fire before the morning prayer ahead of the "Maha Kumbh Mela", or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, India, January 12, 2025.

Kumbh Mela's scale is unparalleled. Attendance varies but the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj stands out for its sheer ...

The Maha Kumbh Mela is one of Hinduism’s holiest festivals, held once every 12 years at Prayagraj in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh where the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical ...

Maha Kumbh, the largest gathering of people anywhere on Earth, is expected to draw more than 400 million devotees to India’s Uttar Pradesh Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent ...

DW's Mahima Kapoor joins millions of Hindu devotees for the Maha Kumbh Mela and roams alone through the world's largest religious gathering.On the day of my departure from New Delhi, I am sick. A ...

But, the current Mela is far more sacred still, a "Maha" ("Great") Kumbh Mela, taking place once every 144 years. The last time it occurred, Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House.

Udupi: The 23-year-old Prajwal Shenoy, who took his father to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh Mela on his 25-year-old Hero Honda ...

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 ...