A makeshift city is being built alongside India’s sacred rivers for a Hindu religious festival so large it can be seen from space, the largest gathering in history.
Row after row of pontoon bridges span the rivers of Prayagraj as Indian authorities prepare for 400 million pilgrims – more than the combined populations of the United States and Canada – during the six-week Kumbh Mela.
The thousands-year-old sacred spectacle of religious devotion and ritual bathing is held every 12 years at the confluence of the sacred Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers.
But this edition, from January 13 to February 26, is expected to be a mega event, as it coincides with a special alignment of the planets.
