More than 400 million people: this is the world's largest religious festival.

Pilgrims from all corners of India undertake journeys that last for days, crammed into overcrowded buses and trains. The final leg of the journey is made in small pedal-powered vehicles known as rickshaws or, in some cases, on foot. For them, the important thing is to reach their destination.

The faces of the pilgrims reflect devotion, curiosity, and hope. This pilgrimage, rooted in Hindu legend and history, represents for them a profound experience of faith, a yearning to achieve moksha: liberation from the unbreakable cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Their destination is the Trivenio Sangam, the sacred confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati rivers, believed to possess divine power and purify the soul of anyone who touches its waters. Amidst the crowd, a woman stands out, having returned from California, completely surrendering to the mysticism of the Maha Kumbh Mela, the festival The world's largest religious festival, attracting millions of people every twelve years to this meeting point of the most revered rivers in northern India. Here, the various groups of Hinduism come together, united by a common fervor.

Karan, 22, explains that he took a break from his life and immersed himself in this temporary city of rituals seeking "clarity in his spiritual path" that will lead him toward a monastic life or a new purpose. While some well-to-do and local attendees participate in the festivalMost of the pilgrims are farmers and peasants from the most remote areas of India—men carrying backpacks and children, women with babies cradled on their shoulders. For many, this is their first—and perhaps only—trip beyond the borders of their villages. They come seeking blessings, unconcerned about where they will spend the night. This Kumbh Mela is considered even more special, as the rare alignment of Jupiter and the Sun in Aquarius—a phenomenon that only occurs every 144 years—heralds enlightenment, transformation, and purification.

The origins of the myth

The origins of the Kumbh, as recounted in the Puranas, the sacred Hindu texts, are born from the myth of the immortal pot of nectar, amrita, over which the gods and demons waged a fierce battle. To protect the precious nectar, Jayant, the son of Indra, poured it on four sacred sites: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik-Trimbakeshwar, where the mela is held. In Prayagraj, the beds of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers are transformed into a temporary metropolis, a fleeting gathering that only appears once every twelve years. This sacred event emerges only after the monsoon floods recede and the land dries, revealing a vast expanse capable of accommodating tens of millions of pilgrims across 4,000 hectares. Thousands of tents are set up to welcome visitors who come hoping to immerse themselves in the sacred waters and participate in rituals that last for an entire month.

Every facet of Hinduism manifests here, from Vajnavites to Shivvies, from yogis to ascetics, each sect contributing its unique practices to the makeshift temples erected in its honor. Barbers, boatmen, and merchants populate this transient city while Hindu politicians seize the moment to advance their own agendas. The air vibrates with the echo of mantras and religious rites amplified by loudspeakers, where the sacred and the political merge in a heady mix of nationalism and devotion.

He festival It began on the night of January 13-14, when the first Shahi Snan (royal bath) marked the ceremonial opening of the Maha Kumbh Mela. Under a full moon, the Naga Sadhus—guardians of the faith and warriors of tradition—set out on their legendary march to the Sangam. Adorned in little more than ashes spread over their naked bodies, they strode purposefully toward the sacred confluence and were greeted by the reverent gaze of hundreds of thousands of people. Phones were lifted, hands clasped in prayer, as the crowd watched in awe, many reaching out to touch the earth where the Naga Sadhus had walked, the crossroads blessed by their sacred footprints. For these Sadhus, Kumbh Mela represents a moment of unparalleled glory. They have renounced all worldly possessions and can be seen as living embodiments of the faith, upholding the spiritual legacy of Hinduism.

After the Naga Sadhus, other holy men parade on floats, crossing makeshift bridges over the Ganges and offering blessings to the devotees who cheer them on. The air is filled with fervent devotion as pilgrims respond with shouts of joy and thanksgiving. At Sangam, faith ceases to be an abstract concept and becomes a tangible, living presence. Some bathe in meditative silence, ignoring the turmoil around them; others, moved by joy, wallow in the waters and embrace the sacred moment with abandon. Women perform rituals and offer incense, milk, and flowers, and with their whispered prayers into the air they seek to purify their souls and reconnect with the divine. It is a spectacle of devotion, a collective surrender to a force so vast that it can only be heard and embraced, never fully understood. The atmosphere draws all present toward a shared sense of oneness with the eternal, the infinite.

The heart of India

For six weeks, the sacred confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and Sarasvati rivers will be the heart of India and host the world's largest peaceful gathering. At each phase of the moon, a new holy bath will summon millions of devotees to the Sangam, and the convergence of their faith will create an opportunity for personal purification and spiritual renewal. However, these moments of devotion also bring chaos and vulnerability. The sheer scale of the crowds—which cover an area of hundreds of square meters—generates a palpable intensity, sometimes leading to panic and dangerous situations. On January 29, during the second day of the holy bath, a stampede left 30 people dead, according to official figures, with many others injured. What began as a celebration quickly turned into tragedy. With millions of people converging in one place, risks are inevitable, prompting reflection on the fragile boundary between devotion and the logistics of an event of this magnitude.

For the Indian government, the management of Maha Kumbh Mela goes beyond logistics: it has become a deeply politically charged event. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the event has been used as a platform to reinforce its Hindu nationalist narrative. In 2018, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government decided to rename Allahabad to Prayagraj, a gesture laden with symbolism in a context of growing religious polarization that particularly affects the Muslim community. This change, along with other policies, has been interpreted as an effort to reconfigure India's identity, an attempt to erase the traces of its Islamic legacy in order to consolidate a more homogeneous vision of the country, closely tied to Hindu values.

Thus, Modi emerges not only as the nation's leader, but as the architect of a national vision that merges with the deepest values of Hinduism. "Modi is like a father to our family," a man of Gujarati origin who came to Kumbh Mela with his family tells me. "India needs a man with that leadership, with that vision, who truly cares about our religious values. In the end, we all come here for something greater, for a magnetic devotion that flows in these waters, which seem to transcend time and space."

However, what many, immersed in the sea of fervor and faith, don't ask themselves is whether this process of consolidating and reaffirming a unified Hindu identity, far from uniting the country, could end up accentuating internal fractures. In a nation marked by its vast religious and cultural diversity, the challenge of balancing the ardor of faith with social cohesion looms as one of the greatest challenges for the future of the world's most populous country.