“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)

Brazilian tattoo artist Michel Praddo, also known as Diabao or Human Satan, and his wife Carol Praddo, known as Mulher Demonia or Demon Woman, take a picture with a fan at the beach shore in Praia Grande, Brazil on August 18, 2021. (Photo by Carla Carniel/Reuters)

A young woman shows off her henna tattoos at the end of Eid al-Fitr prayers in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Members of the Romanian Muslim community joined prayers at the Dinamo stadium in the Romanian capital, in the largest Muslim public gathering of the year. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo)

A tattoo of the model who presents a creation by designer Maxime Simoens is seen in detail, as part of his Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2019 collection show for fashion house Azzaro Couture in Paris, France, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Japanese artist Mami Kiyoshi has spent 15 years creating vivid portraits of people surrounded by their belongings – from wine bottles and violins to the odd stray pet. Mami Kiyoshi’s ongoing series “New Reading Portraits” is, in part, a nod to the mise-en-scène found in traditional woodcut printing. Here: Sakura and Kazuhiro, Tokyo, 2015. (Photo by Mami Kiyoshi/Galerie Annie Gabrielli/The Guardian)

“Be prepared” is the motto of petite Doris Sherrell, vocalist and dancer with “Blackouts of 1942”. In the event of a bombing, the young lady had her social security number tattooed on one leg by artist Jack Julian, and address placed on the other limb for means of identification in Los Angeles, September 29, 1942. (Photo by AP Photo)

Two Hindu holy men of the Juna Akhara sect are being take on a motorcycle by their teacher as they got delayed for a rituals that are believed to rid them of all ties in this life and dedicate themselves to serving God as a “Naga” or naked holy men, at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna River during the Maha Kumbh festival in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, February 6, 2013. The significance of nakedness is that they will not have any worldly ties to material belongings, even something as simple as clothes. This ritual that transforms selected holy men to Naga can only be done at the Kumbh festival. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Soldiers stand guard in Maua square where a cotton candy vendor passes by in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, July 9, 2016, as security is deployed to get to know the areas they'll be patrolling during the Olympics. Roughly twice the security contingent at the London Olympics will be deployed during the August games in Rio, which are expected to draw thousands of foreigners to a city where armed muggings, stray bullets and turf wars between heavily armed drug gangs are routine. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)