The final tally will only be updated after the end of the festival but it could be around 250 million'India's Kumbh Mela religious mega festival wraps up Monday with some 10 million pilgrims expected to take a final holy plunge, taking the final tally towards 250 million, officials said. "We expect at least 10 million today because it is both the last day and Mahashivratri," one of the biggest Hindu holy days, government official Prabhat Shukla told AFP. The final tally will only be updated after the end of the festival but it could be around 250 million," Shukla added. According to Hindu mythology, gods and demons fought a war over a sacred pitcher, or Kumbh, containing the nectar of immortality. This year's festival was the Ardh (half) Kumbh Mela, which denotes the completion of the six-year half cycle of the even bigger and grander Maha (great) Kumbh festival, held every 12 years.

Source: Dhaka Tribune March 04, 2019 14:48 UTC