The sheer scale of the Hindu festival makes it a disaster waiting to happen. From new underwater drones to AI surveillance, here’s what’s being done to avoid deadly crushes.

At a confluence of holy rivers, Hindus believe that bathing during the Kumbh Mela washes away sins and breaks the cycle of rebirth. More than 400 million people will now descend on this Indian city.

The Maha Kumbh Mela 2025, a major event for Hindu devotees across the globe, commenced in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday. The religious congregation at the Triveni Sangam—the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati—is anticipated to draw over 40 crore pilgrims during the 45-day event.

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.

While the Kumbh Mela festival is ordinarly held every three years, rotating between several holy cities on the banks of these rivers, the Maha Kumbh Mela occurs only once every 12 years. Maha means “great”, and the event attracts the most devotees because it is considered the most auspicious and holy in the cycle.

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

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.

More than 400 million Hindu pilgrims are expected to take part in the biggest gathering of humanity in history - India's Maha Kumbh Mela religious festival. DW follows one couple’s spiritual journey to wash away their sins in the river Ganges.