An ascetic dances with another as Hindu holy man walk in a procession, a day before the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, in Prayagraj.
A Hindu holy man sips tea at his makeshift living quarters at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, a day before the official beginning of the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, in Prayagraj.
Hindu holy men arrive in a procession at an akhara where they will stay during the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival beginning on Jan. 13, at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, in Prayagraj.
Hindu devotees wearing the ceremonial costume of the Kathiawar region in Gujarat state, sing hymns at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, a day before the official beginning of the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, in Prayagraj.
Sadhus or Hindu holy men of Panchayati Bada Udasin Akhara wave in front of Indian tricolor flag during a procession of the first 'royal entry' a day before the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
A foreign hindu devotee Iryna Animists, center, poses along Indian hindu devotees a day before the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj.
A Hindu devotee prays before taking a dip at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers on the first day of the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj.
Devotees arrive for taking a dip at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers on the first day of the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj.
District Megistrate Kumbh Mela, Vijay Kiran Anand, center, briefs the strategy to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, left, at Sangam during observation ahead of Mahakumbh festival in Prayagraj in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Women wait to join their family members after bathing at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, a day before the official beginning of the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, in Prayagraj.
A Hindu holy man smokes marijuana at his makeshift living quarters at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers, a day before the official beginning of the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, in Prayagraj.
Devotees arrive for taking a dip at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers on the first day of the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj.
