A vermilion dot on the forehead is one of India’s most widely accepted Hindu cultural insignias. But at the festival, where millions are flocking to pray and bathe at the confluence of India’s holy rivers, it morphs into a major display of Hinduism in various forms and designs.

According to the Indian government, some 400 million people were expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, the most important religious event in Hinduism, held this year in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26.

Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to visit Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh, or "festival of the Sacred Pitcher", on Wednesday.

Millions of Hindus are gathering in a northern Indian city for the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious congregation.

The Kumbh Mela happens every 12 years at Sangam, the confluence of three sacred rivers - the Ganges (Ganga), Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Hindus believe that bathing in the sacred waters will cleanse them of sins and help them attain salvation.

Hindu devotees and mystics have gathered in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on Earth. Nearly 400 million people

The Hindu festival that turned deadly in northern India on Wednesday is a religious gathering with deep spiritual meaning for devotees who come by the millions to take a cleansing dip in waters they consider sacred.

Authorities say that at least 30 people have died and a further 60 were injured in a crowd crush at the massive Kumbh Mela festival in India. The world's biggest religious festival and humanity's largest gathering,

At least 17 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India early Wednesday, a doctor at a government hospital said, as tens of thousands of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred river waters during the Hindu event.