India's Kumbh Mela festival attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful to Prayagraj in northern Uttar Pradesh state, but footage of an elderly monk making an offering at a shrine that circulated online is unrelated.

A video spread online shows an annual stone-pelting ritual in northern India, contrary to claims by social media posts that presented it as Hindu pilgrims attacking each other at the Kumbh Mela mega-festival.

As of February 5, 2025, the total number of devotees who have taken the holy dip since the beginning of the Mela has surpassed 389.7 million.

A senior police officer said at least 30 people died as a crowd panicked at the Hindu Kumbh Mela mega-festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.

More than seven people were killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian holy city of Prayagraj on Wednesday.

Modi takes a holy dip at Kumbh Mela, a week after a deadly stampede killed 30 and injured nearly 100 in Prayagraj. #KumbhMela #Modi #India

Officials had been preparing for months for the world’s largest religious festival, with around 400 million Hindu pilgrims expected to take part

At least 30 people have been killed in a crush at the world's largest religious gathering, the Hindu festival Kumbh Mela in northern India, officials say. The incident took place early on Wednesday when devotees on the riverbanks in the city of Prayagraj were trampled by other pilgrims rushing to take part in a sacred day of ritual bathing.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended on Wednesday the Hindu festival Kumbh Mela in northern India and immersed himself in the confluence of the sacred Ganges and Yamuna rivers, where a stampede claimed the lives of 30 people and left nearly a hundred injured a week ago.

Kumbh Mela, often called the world’s largest human gathering, is underway in northern India. DW explores a key highlight of the festival, where the sadhus — holy men, revered for their spiritual devotion,