The current edition of the Maha Kumbh
Mela, a long-drawn-out Hindu festival celebrated at 12-year intervals, began on January 9, the last full-moon day of winter. For the last (1989) edition a total of about 15 million people turned up at the customary festival site - Prayag
(Allahabad), an Uttar Pradesh town located at the confluence ('sangam') of the holy
Ganga, Yamuna and (mythical) Saraswati. The Guinness Book of Records described the gathering as "the largest number of human beings to ever assemble with a common purpose in the entire history of mankind."
 One awaits the book's verdict on this year's Maha Kumbh with interest, for the total turnout for the 44-day event, which winds up after the celebration of Mahashivratri on February 21, is expected to be between 25 million and 70 million. On the very first day of the festival, an estimated 3 million people assembled at the 5,000-acre (2,000-hectare) riverbank site for a holy dip in observance of Paush
Poornima. The 'Maha Kumbh Mela' ('great urn fair/festival') is the biggest and most auspicious of the Kumbh
Melas. Lesser versions take place at three-year intervals at Prayag, Hardwar (Uttar
Pradesh), where the Ganga enters the plains from the Himalayas, Ujjain (Madhya
Pradesh), on the banks of the Kshipra, and Nashik (Maharashtra), on the banks of the
Godavari.
The Kumbh Mela is a salutation to the forces of creation, symbolically assumed to be contained in an urn. Submerging one's body completely in the river at the festival site to wash away one's sins is the principal ritual of the festival.
The Kumbh Mela calendar has six auspicious days for ritual bathing, including Paush Poornima and
Mahashivratri. The orthodox Hindu believes that on those days holy nectar descends on the river waters from the heavens and purges the bathers of all evil.
 People from every corner of India (not to mention those from abroad), people belonging to different castes and language groups, congregate at Prayag for the great show. The presence of
'sadhus' (holy men) is conspicuous, particularly that of the 'Nagas,' or the naked ones among their lot. The last are militant Hindus who strut about with ash smeared on their bodies and sporting matted hair.
There is considerable variety in the 'sadhu' presence. You can see holy men armed with tridents, chains and spears moving about. The heads of large monastic orders arrive to the accompaniment of brass bands blaring cacophonously. Limousines transport many a guru with an international following.
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