- Title: Millions take holy dip for absolution as India's Maha Kumbh Mela begins
- Date: 13th January 2025
- Summary: PRAYAGRAJ, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA (JANUARY 13, 2025) (ANI - Broadcast: No use India. Digital: No use India) (MUTE) (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF DEVOTEES GATHERED ON RIVERBANK, BATHING IN GANGES RIVER (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF DEVOTEES WALKING ON RIVERBANK (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF DEVOTEES GATHERED ON RIVERBANK, BATHING IN GANGES RIVER VARIOUS OF DEVOTEES TAKING HOLY DIPS AT THE CONFLUENCE OF
- Embargoed: 27th January 2025 05:54
- Keywords: Ganges India Kumbh Mela Mahakumbh Naga sadhus Prayagraj Uttar Pradesh camps devotees holy dip holy men millions pilgrims politics religion religious river bank spiritual tent city tents
- Location: PRAYAGRAJ, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA
- City: PRAYAGRAJ, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA
- Country: India
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001270913012025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Millions of Hindus seeking absolution of their sins immersed themselves on Monday (January 13) in freezing waters at the confluence of India’s sacred rivers on the first day of a six-week festival that is said to be the world's largest religious gathering.
Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival, as the religious event in the city of Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh is called, attracts more than 400 million visitors, both Indians and tourists.
This year marks the completion of 12 Maha Kumbh Melas cycles which happens after 144 years. This time, it is also happening during a rare celestial alignment of planets and stars that occurs once in 144 years.
Devotees offered prayers and took holy dips on Monday at the Sangam, the confluence of India's holy rivers - Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati.
Hindus believe that bathing in these sacred waters absolves people of sins, and that during the Kumbh Mela, it also grants salvation from the cycle of life and death.
The Kumbh originates in a Hindu tradition that the god Vishnu, known as the Preserver, wrested away from demons a golden pitcher that held the nectar of immortality.
In a 12-day celestial fight for its possession, four drops of the nectar fell to earth, in the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, where the festival is held every three years in rotation.
The Kumbh held once in 12 years in this cycle has the prefix "maha" (great) as its timing renders it more auspicious and it attracts the largest crowds.
A showcase mix of religion, spirituality and tourism like no other in India, the event offers a test in crowd management for authorities in the world's most populous country who must balance arrangements for millions while retaining its sanctity.
Uttar Pradesh is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which hopes a successful Kumbh Mela will burnish its efforts to reclaim and glorify India's religious and cultural symbols.
(Production: ANI, Ariel Wee) - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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