A dog waits as his companion fills out their ballot at Eastern Market in Washington, DC, on November 5, 2024. (Photo by Allison Robbert for The Washington Post)

American-South African actress Madelaine Petsch attends the 17th Annual Los Angeles Haunted Hayride at Griffith Park on September 26, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

“Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river. The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 3 years, the Ardh (half) Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag, the Purna (complete) Kumbh takes place every twelve years, at four places (Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik). The Maha (great) Kumbh Mela which comes after 12 “Purna Kumbh Melas”, or 144 years, is held at Allahabad.

The last Ardh Kumbh Mela was held over a period of 45 days beginning in January 2007, more than 70 million Hindu pilgrims took part in the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Prayag, and on January 15, the most auspicious day of the festival of Makar Sankranti, more than 5 million participated. The previous Maha Kumbh Mela, held in 2001, was attended by around 60 million people, making it at the time the largest gathering anywhere in the world in recorded history”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Sadhus (holy men) smoke at their camp near the ritual site at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers during the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival (Half Pitcher festival) January 18, 2007 in Allahabad, India. Millions of Hindu pilgrims have flocked to the largest religious gathering in the world which lasts for 45 days in northern India. The festival commemorates the mythical conflict between gods and demons over a pitcher filled with the “nectar of immortality”. Devotees believe that taking a holy dip in the Ganges at this time washes away their sins and paves the path to salvation. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A woman smokes marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 20, 2017. (Photo by Chris Wattie/Reuters)

Young African lion Asali (R) jumps for a bungee-ball toy as her father Jambo or “Bruiser” looks on at the opening of a savannah-themed makeover of the lion enclosure at Taronga Zoo August 29, 2006 in Sydney, Australia. The renovation includes sandstone rock features, a wading pool, and red ochre crushed granite substrate in a move to make the enclosure more closely resemble the natural habitat of the African savannah. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

In this photo taken on Monday, January 5, 2015, a mallard duck attempts to walk on a frozen pond in Yukon, Okla. (Photo by Steve Gooch/AP Photo/The Oklahoman)

Girls ride on a donkey cart with grass for animals on the outside of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan May 19, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

Sloth “Paula” hangs from a branch in her enclosure at the zoo in Halle an der Saale, eastern Germany, on June 14, 2019. The two-toed sloth celebrated her 50th birthday and is, according to the zoo, the oldest sloth of the world. (Photo by Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/AFP Photo)