The Mahanirvani Akhara venerates Sage Kapilmuni and is led by Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Swami Vishokananda. A unique participant is the Kinnar Akhara, which gives transgender people a platform to express their spirituality within Hinduism's inclusive framework.

While both festivals share deep religious significance and celestial connections, there are key distinctions that set them apart

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 of humanity -- to assemble over six weeks.India is the world's most populous nation, with 1.4 billion people, and so is used to large crowds.

The Kumbh Mela, a revered Hindu festival, occurs every three years in four sacred Indian locations: Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain, and Nashik. Every 12 years, each site hosts the grand Maha Kumbh. This year's event will be held in Prayagraj.

While the Kumbh Mela festival is ordinarly held every three years, rotating between several holy cities on the banks of these rivers, the Maha Kumbh Mela occurs only once every 12 years. Maha means “great”, and the event attracts the most devotees because it is considered the most auspicious and holy in the cycle.

India's Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, is set to be the world's largest gathering of humanity, with 400 million visitors expected at the six-week event that began this week in the northern city of Prayagraj.

Nearly 15 million Hindus, six times the number expected, took a dip in freezing waters seeking absolution of their sins on Monday (January 13), the first day of India's Maha Kumbh festival, according to State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Tens of thousands of naked Hindu ascetics and millions of pilgrims are taking dips in sacred rivers in the first of a series of major baths in the Maha Kumbh festival, the largest religious congregati

Thousands of worshippers flocked to the Maha Kumbh bathing festival in India. At least 450 million devotees are expected to participate in the holy dip at Triveni Sangam, marking the beginning of the 45-day festival in Uttar Pradesh,