8 million bathe in Ganges for Kumbh Mela

Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees crowd a large field on the banks of the Sangham or confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers as they surge forward slowly and hope to take a dip in the waters during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 14, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims led by naked, ash-covered holy men streamed into the sacred river Ganges at the start of the world's biggest religious festival. The Kumbh Mela in the Indian town of Allahabad will see up to 100 million worshippers gather over the next 55 days to take a ritual bath in the holy waters, believed to cleanse sins and bestow blessings.

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