It’s late evening in the city of Prayagraj and the roadside vendors selling snacks are packing up their wares to shut for the night.

Scores of naked Hindu ascetics smeared in holy ash charged into the water of holy rivers in northern India on Tuesday, dreadlocks flying, during the first 'royal bath' of the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival.

As India begins the largest religious gathering in the world, the local bishop says the Church’s educational and religious facilities will be used to help millions of Hindu pilgrims.

Naked Hindu ascetics and pilgrims took dips in the freezing waters at the confluence of sacred rivers in northern India on Tuesday, in the first major bathing day of the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on Earth.

Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India bathed in sacred waters as the Kumbh Mela festival opened on Monday, with organisers expecting 400 million people -- the world's largest gathering

Tens of thousands of naked Hindu ascetics and millions of pilgrims took dips in freezing water at the confluence of sacred rivers in northern India on Tuesday.

Thousands charge into icy waters to perform the holy dip ritual at India's Maha Kumbh Mela festival:::: Prayagraj, India:: Namrata Aggarwal, Hindi pilgrim from Gurugram:: “It’s been a life-changing experience and once-in-a-lifetime experience.