The Kumbh Mela festival, the largest religious gathering in the world, has begun in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj.

The Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 has officially begun. Prayagraj is in an atmosphere of deep devotion and vibrant spirituality.

Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh will be on a unique mix of faith, tradition and human raw and unrefined. This great event is for pilgrims, explorers and hungry souls to fulfill their desires making a really great experience.

India began on Monday its Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, which is expected to draw more than 400 million visitors to the northern city of Prayagraj over six weeks, making for the largest gathering of humanity in the world.

Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India bathed in sacred waters as the Kumbh Mela festival opened on Monday, with organisers expecting 400 million people -- the world's largest gathering of humanity -- to assemble over six weeks.India is the world's most populous nation, with 1.4 billion people, and so is used to large crowds.

Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival begins in India on Monday, a Hindu sacred event that will be the world's largest gathering of humanity as it showcases religion, spirituality, tourism and crowd management.

India's Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, is set to be the world's largest gathering of humanity, with 400 million visitors expected at the six-week event that began this week in the northern city of Prayagraj.

Drone video shows thousands of devotees bathing in sacred waters as the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, begins in Prayagraj, India. The celebration is expected to draw 400 million visitors.