The fatal victims were trampled to death during crowds at the Maha Kumbh Mela festival, considered the largest religious gathering in the world.

The fatal victims were trampled to death during crowds at the Maha Kumbh Mela festival, considered the largest religious gathering in the world.

The Maha Kumbh Mela festival, which takes place in northern India and is considered the largest religious gathering in the world, dozens of people lost their lives during the riots and crowds of participants who were trying to bathe in the sacred waters of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers on Tuesday (28).

Devoted Hindus believe that taking a dip in the confluence of three sacred rivers, the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical and invisible Saraswati, absolves people of sins and, during the Kumbh, also brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.

So far, there is no official confirmation from the police or the government of Uttar Pradesh, the state where the festival takes place, about the fatalities. However, reports indicate that dozens of bodies were seen on the ground around the riverbanks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, offered condolences to “devotees who lost their loved ones”, but did not specify the death toll. More than 36 million people took a holy dip at 10 am on Wednesday (29), according to officials.