1 / 10On the banks near the confluence, amidst bustling crowds, 61-year-old Om Prakash Dube from Ayodhya is sitting on a blanket spread over a plastic sheet on the ground. “I eat little so that I do not have the need to visit the public toilets frequently,” said Dube, who has already spent a night in the open and is planning to stay another to catch the first two auspicious bathing days. Several others sit with their belongings on plastic sheets. Some are eating simple meals brought from home, others lying down or chatting. Many, like Dube, will spend at least one night sleeping out in the open braving the cold with thin blankets and no mattresses. (Image: AP)
2 / 10Braving the biting cold, devotees brimming with energy and enthusiasm converged at the Triveni Sangam to take a holy dip at the Maha Kumbh on Wednesday. Chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Ganga Maiyya’ were heard as the devotees took a dip in the bone-chilling water. (Image: AP)
3 / 10It’s late evening in the city of Prayagraj and the roadside vendors selling snacks are packing up their wares to shut for the night. Under the large fig trees, between two paved streets, a group of people is unpacking their bedding of brightly printed blankets. Using their bags as pillows and covering themselves from head to toe with the blankets to ward off cold and mosquitoes, they will spend the night there. (Image: AP)
4 / 10“We would have liked to spend more time, but our daughter Saumya has her exams coming up,” said Preeti Gupta, who traveled with her husband and two children from Chhattisgarh. Her daughter Saumya, 16, is studying science at school. A little farther, Nagavalli Gupta reads a prayer book while her husband sits cross-legged wearing a woolen cap, wrapped in a blanket. They are from Bengaluru in the southern state of Karnataka and have been on a pilgrimage for the past two months. (Image: AP)
5 / 10“We would have liked to spend more time, but our daughter Saumya has her exams coming up,” said Preeti Gupta, who traveled with her husband and two children from Chhattisgarh. Her daughter Saumya, 16, is studying science at school. A little farther, Nagavalli Gupta reads a prayer book while her husband sits cross-legged wearing a woolen cap, wrapped in a blanket. They are from Bengaluru in the southern state of Karnataka and have been on a pilgrimage for the past two months. (Image: AP)
6 / 10On Jan. 14, one of the most auspicious dates for bathing at the confluence, people who didn’t spend the night on the banks were out before 4 am, inching along tightly packed streets, some carrying bags on their heads. There was much jostling and families and friends struggled to keep together. Much could have gone wrong but somehow the crowds kept moving to the ghats, where they prayed and took a dip. (Image: AP)
7 / 10According to an official estimate, 35 million people bathed at the confluence on that day.
8 / 10As the ongoing Maha Kumbh captures global attention, a 21-member delegation from 10 countries invited by the Centre will take a sacred dip at the Sangam on Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh government said on Wednesday. The international delegation includes representatives from Fiji, Finland, Guyana, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). (Image: AP)
9 / 10Hindu devotees will keep arriving in the north Indian city from across the country to bathe at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. Many will sustain themselves with little more than their faith. (Image: AP)
10 / 10Naga sadhus of Shri Panchayati Niranjani Akhada arrive to take the first ‘Amrit Snan’ at the Mahakumbh on Makar Sankranti festival, at Sangam in Prayagraj, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. According to an official estimate, 35 million people bathed at the confluence on that day. (Image: PTI)
