What is the Maha Kumbh Mela and why does it attract millions of Hindus? - Officials had been preparing for months for the world’s largest religious festival, with around 400 million Hindu pilgrims exp

The event is deeply rooted in Hindu mythology and centres on the belief in the purifying power of sacred rivers. Pilgrims bathe in these rivers, believing the ritual cleanses their sins and brings them closer to spiritual liberation.

More than seven people were killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian holy city of Prayagraj on Wednesday.

The deadly stampede at the Mahakumbh Mela 2025 highlights the ongoing challenges of crowd management during large religious gatherings in India.

With the Nashik Kumbh Mela in 2027 expected to draw lakhs of devotees, multiple challenges lie ahead for the administration.

The Kumbh Mela is held every three years in four cities on the banks of sacred rivers across India. Devout Hindus believe that immersion in the sacred rivers absolves people of sins, and such dips during the Kumbh Mela also bring salvation from the cycle of life and death.

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.

This video can not be played BBC reports from scene of India's Kumbh Mela crush Edited by Neha Gohil and Tinshui Yeung in London and produced by Geeta Pandey and Zoya Mateen in Delhi, with Vikas Pandey,