The first major bathing day, Tuesday, will see ash-smeared naked Hindu holy men with matted dreadlocks, known as Naga sadhus, take a dip in the northern Indian city at dawn.

PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Naked Hindu ascetics and pilgrims took dips in the freezing waters at the confluence of sacred rivers in northern India on Tuesday, in the first major bathing day of ...

A holy man receives a plastic cup to fill tea offered by a devotee at the Pashupatinath Hindu temple during Shivaratri festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan ...

Authorities have built a sprawling tented city on the river banks to accommodate the holy men, pilgrims and tourists visiting the festival. The government has shelled out more than US$765 million for ...

DELHI, India (RNS) — For more than three decades, Mohammed Mehmood, a Muslim, had been hired by Hindu holy men to light their tents during celebrations of Kumbh Mela, a festival that every 12 ...

Millions of Hindu devotees, mystics and holy men and women have flocked to the northern Indian city of Prayagraj on Monday to kickstart the world's largest religious gathering.. Why It Matters ...

Ash-smeared naked Hindu holy men charged into India's most sacred river Ganges at dawn on the first most significant bathing day of the Kumbh Mela festival ... Besides the saints and ascetics, ...

Hindu holy men walk in a procession a day before the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, in Prayagraj, India, Sunday, 12 ...

Ash-smeared Naga Sadhus or Hindu holy men arrive to take a dip in Sangam to mark the Maha Kumbh Mela festival, in Prayagraj on January 14, 2025. R.Satish Babu/AFP/Getty Images.

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 ...

Hindu holy men walk in a procession a day before the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, in Prayagraj, India, Sunday, 12 ...