Days before India started its mammoth Kumbh Mela festival, a video showing preparations for a nighttime light show surfaced in social media posts that falsely linked it to the six-week Hindu event. The video was in fact originally published by a US-based drone show company and shows a Christmas celebration.

Over the coming 45 days, an estimated 400 million Hindus are expected to come together for Maha Kumbh Mela. The festival is held every 12 years but the "Maha" or grand Kumbh Mela takes place only every 144 years, "marking the 12th Kumbh Mela and a special celestial alignment of the sun, moon and Jupiter", said The Guardian.

Over about the next six weeks, Hindu pilgrims will gather at the confluence of three sacred rivers where they will take part in elaborate rituals.