The Ardh Kumbh Mela takes place every six years in Haridwar and Prayagraj. Prayagraj was earlier known as Allahabad. The name was changed by Adityanath’s Hindu nationalist state government in 2018.

Attendance varies but the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj stands out for its sheer scale. About 400 million people are expected to attend throughout the 45-day period, authorities say.

A deadly stampede also occurred at the last Maha Kumbh Mela during the busiest day of bathing. A total of 36 Hindu pilgrims died in that incident in 2013, including 27 women and an eight-year-old ...

Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India began bathing in sacred waters on Monday as the Kumbh Mela festival opened, with organisers expecting 400 million people — the largest gathering of humanity.

Hindu devotees believe taking a dip in the confluence of the rivers during the Maha Kumbh Mela absolves them of sins and brings them salvation from the cycle of life and death.

This is the first Maha Kumbh Mela to be held under his party's rule after it changed the town's earlier Muslim name of Allahabad to the Hindu Prayagraj in 2018.

A deadly stampede on Wednesday hit India's Kumbh Mela, a vast Hindu festival held by the banks of the Ganges river that 400 million pilgrims are expected to visit over its six-week duration ...

The world's largest religious gathering, the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India, turned deadly Wednesday, with officials confirming at least 30 deaths and 60 people injured in a stampede on the biggest ...

Millions of Hindu pilgrims are gathering in India to bathe in sacred waters for the six-week-long Kumbh Mela festival -- from the very old to babies, cave-dwelling monks to science ...

A Hindu ‘holy’ man prepares to take a dip in the sacred waters of Sangam, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, during Shahi Snan at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj ...

Organisers of India's Kumbh Mela have prepared to host a staggering 400 million devotees at the six-week Hindu festival that starts Monday and is expected to be the largest human ...