From The New York Times:
Millions of Hindus are convening this week in what is expected to be the world’s largest human gathering, where a staggering number of devotees, tourists, politicians and celebrities take sacred dips at the convergence of two holy rivers in India.
The religious festival, called the Maha Kumbh Mela, happens every 12 years on the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj. Officials this year expect up to 400 million people—more than the population of the United States—to visit the site in Uttar Pradesh State over the next six weeks. The Maha Kumbh Mela, or “great festival of the sacred pitcher,” is the world’s largest religious ceremony. Based on a Hindu legend in which demons and gods fight over a pitcher carrying the nectar of immortality, the centuries-old ceremony centers on a series of holy baths, which Hindus say purify their sins.