A vermilion dot on the forehead is one of India’s most widely accepted Hindu cultural insignias. But at the festival, where millions are flocking to pray and bathe at the confluence of India’s holy rivers, it morphs into a major display of Hinduism in various forms and designs.

A senior police officer said at least 30 people died as a crowd panicked at the Hindu Kumbh Mela mega-festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.

More than 100 people were killed in a stampede in northern India in July 2024 following a Hindu religious gathering, making it one of the deadliest such accidents in years. Thousands had gathered at a makeshift tent for an event led by a Hindu preacher in Uttar Pradesh state.

Millions of Hindus are gathering in a northern Indian city for the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious congregation

Hindu devotees, mystics and holy men and women have gathered in India's northern city of Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering.

At least seven people were killed and around 10 injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj on Wednesday, an official said, the most auspicious day of the six-week Great Pitcher Festival.