World's largest religious gathering wraps up in India

Hundreds of millions of Hindu devotees have bathed in sacred waters, despite concerns over overcrowding and water pollution, as the world’s largest religious gathering wrapped up Wednesday in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, CNN reported.

Over the last 45 days, more than 620 million people – nearly a third of India’s roughly 1.4 billion population - have attended the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the riverbanks in the city of Prayagraj, in a spectacle of color and expression of faith.

Followers have come to take a holy dip in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers – the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati – to purify their sins and take another step closer to “spiritual liberation.”

Every 12 years the festival carries the prefix “Maha,” which means great, as it’s the largest gathering of the Kumbh Mela that’s held every three years in one of four cities.

“It is a unique, once in a lifetime experience,” said Sushovan Sircar, 36, who works as an independent consultant in Delhi. “People from all over India are here, as I saw number plates of cars from almost every state.”

Though this year’s festivities have been marred by two separate, deadly crowd crushes, millions have turned out for the festival despite concerns of overcrowding and reports of “unsafe” levels of contamination in key bathing sites.

A report from the Central Pollution and Control Board (CPCB), part of India’s Environment Ministry, last month found high levels of coliform faecal bacteria in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, despite the government touting sustainable initiatives and sanitation efforts.

Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath denied the accuracy of the government report, insisting that the water was not just safe for bathing, but also for the Hindu ritual of drinking a handful after bathing.

Attendees often submerge themselves fully, sometimes drinking or collecting the sacred water in containers.