After arriving in the central Indian city of Prayagraj in late January, almost everyone I spoke to asked whether I had joined the millions of pilgrims submerging themselves each day to ritually cleanse away their sins at the point where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers are said to mix with those of the mystical Saraswati .

The Hindu event is the world’ s largest religious festival.Over 420 million people have taken a ritual bath so far at India's ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela-- the largest human gathering in the world-- according to figures published by the government's press information agency on Friday.