It’s late evening in the city of Prayagraj and the roadside vendors selling snacks are packing up their wares to shut for the night.

The 'royal bath' is a key part of the event, held every 12 years in the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, significant because Hindus believe it confers salvation from the cycle of birth and death, in addition to absolution of sins.

Tens of thousands of naked Hindu ascetics and millions of pilgrims took dips in freezing water at the confluence of sacred rivers in northern India on Tuesday.

For pilgrims at the largest gathering of humanity, ritual bathing in India's holy rivers includes a key challenge -- finding your family and clothes after the chilly dip.

It’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

Naked Hindu ascetics and pilgrims are taking holy dips in sacred rivers in the first major bathing day of the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on Earth.

Millions of Hindu pilgrims gathered on Tuesday at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers to take part in the first holy bath of the Kumbh Mela, the world's largest religious gathering.