Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred or holy river. Traditionally, four fairs are widely recognized as the Kumbh Melas: These four fairs are held periodically at one of the places by rotation.
The main festival site is located on the banks of a river: the Ganges (Ganga) , the confluence (Sangam) of the Ganges and the Yamuna and the invisible Sarasvati at Prayag; the Godavari at Nashik; and the Shipra at Ujjain. Bathing in these rivers is thought to cleanse a person of all their sins.
The exact age of the festival is uncertain. According to medieval Hinduism, Lord Vishnu dropped drops of Amrita (the drink of immortality) at four places, while transporting it in a kumbha (pot). These four places are identified as the present-day sites of the Kumbh Mela. The name "Kumbh Mela" literally means "Kumbh fair". It is known as "Kumbh" in Hindi in Sanskrit and some other Indian languages, it is more often known by its original name "Kumbha".
The festival is one of the largest peaceful gatherings in the world, and considered as the "world's largest congregation of religious pilgrims". There is no precise method of ascertaining the number of pilgrims, and the estimates of the number of pilgrims bathing on the most auspicious day may vary. An estimated 120 million people visited Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 in Prayag over a two-month period,[6] including over 30 million on a single day, on 10 February 2013 (the day of Mauni Amavasya).[7][8] It has been inscribed on the UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,
(ack:Wikipedia)
I attended the Kumbh Mela in 2013 where I took many pictures. This is one of the shots I took. I was around 10am on a cold morning (15degreesCent). The water was cold but the place swarming with hundreds of people was peaceful. People walked into the river Ganges one by one , took 3 dips in the knee deep water and returned giving place for others. It was a unique experience and memorable sight.
Camera: Canon SX130IX, standard setting, image slight cropped and resized to FAR requirements.
Enjoy!