Kumbh Mela is the main pilgrimage event and major festival in Hinduism, held in a cycle of about 12 years at 4 main points along the river. It is considered "The world's largest religious pilgrimage". UNESCO also officially recognized the festival in the "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".
Every year, this festival attracts tens of millions of participants, of which the Kumbh Mela festival held in 2011 reached a record with 60 million people.
Hindu devotees take part in a prayer session on the banks of the Ganges River ahead of the Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar on January 13.
This year’s festival comes amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. But it is estimated that more than a million pilgrims have already gathered on the banks of the Ganges River in northern India. Millions more are expected to flock to Haridwar (India) in the coming weeks.
Devotees believe that bathing in the Ganges River during the festival season will help them wash away past sins and mistakes.
Hindu devotees gather at the Ganges River during Makar Sankranti on January 14
Local officials said they have taken a number of measures to prevent the spread of the disease, including requiring pilgrims to book rooms in advance to control numbers, strictly enforcing social distancing, and separating bathing areas with color codes.
However, according to media observations, most pilgrims who came to bathe in the Ganges on January 14 did not wear masks. Due to the large number of participants, the organizers had difficulty in maintaining social distancing.
The number of participants was so large that the organizers had difficulty in social distancing.
"India is not like Europe because we have better immunity. I feel sad that the number of people coming here is not as high as in previous seasons," said Sanjay Sharma, a 50-year-old pilgrim.
