India opens giant Hindu festival for 400 million pilgrims

Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India began bathing in sacred waters on Monday as the Kumbh Mela festival opened, with organisers expecting 400 million people.

The millennia-old Kumbh Mela, a show of religious piety and ritual bathing is held at the site where the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers meet.

The festival is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality. Indian police said they were "conducting relentless day-and-night patrols to ensure top-notch security" for the event.

Authorities and the police have also set up a network of "lost and found" centres and an accompanying phone app to help pilgrims lost in the immense crowd "to reunite with their families". Hindus believe bathing there during the Kumbh helps cleanse sins and brings salvation.