“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)

Hindu priests wash the head of a buffalo calf which was sacrificed as part of a ritual at a temple during the Durga Puja festival in Agartala, India, October 10, 2016. (Photo by Jayanta Dey/Reuters)

An Indian girl, Aritri Bannerjee, gets dressed as the Goddess Durga, during the Kumari Puja as part of the Durga Puja festival at Shidaspur village, far north of Kolkata, eastern India, 22 October 2023. During the Kumari Puja, devotees worship a girl aged between six and twelve, symbolizing the Kanya Kumari (virgin) form of the Goddess Durga Devi. Hindu devotees believe that Kanya is a living embodiment of the goddess Durga. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA/EFE)

Participants from an art group wearing traditional dresses rehearse Garba dance ahead of the Navratri festival in Ahmedabad on September 20, 2022. (Photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP)

A Nepalese mother applies make up to her daughter dressed as the living goddess Kumari as they wait for Kumari puja to start at Hanuman Dhoka temple, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, September 14, 2016. Girls under the age of nine gathered for the Kumari puja, a tradition of worshiping young prepubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy. The ritual holds a strong religious significance in the Newar community that seeks divine blessings to save small girls from diseases and bad luck in the years to come. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

American fashion model Bella Hadid is seen promoting Orabella in SoHo on May 02, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)

A woman struggles to drink homemade alcohol poured from the mouth of an idol of “Swet Bhairab” during the annual Indra Jatra festival to worship Indra, Kumari and other deities and to mark the end of monsoon season in Kathmandu, Nepal on September 15, 2019. (Photo by Monika Deupala/Reuters)

A former living goddess Kumari, center, watches Indra Jatra festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, September 19, 2021.Tens of thousands of devotees packed the old palace courtyard in the heart of Nepal's capital to celebrate Indra Jatra festival Sunday which marks the start of the festival season in the Himalayan nation. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)