Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees have gathered by the Ganges river for special prayers, many of them flouting social distancing practices as the coronavirus spreads in India with record speed.
The Kumbh Mela – or pitcher festival, one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism – runs through April and comes during India’s worst pandemic surge, with a record daily tally of 168,912 COVID-19 infections reported on Monday.
The faithful congregate in the northern city of Haridwar in Uttarakhand state and take a dip in the waters of the Ganges, which they believe will absolve them of their sins and deliver them from the cycle of birth and death.