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

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.

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.

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.

Scores of naked Hindu ascetics smeared in holy ash charged into the water of holy rivers in northern India on Tuesday, dreadlocks flying, during the first 'royal bath' of the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival.

Thousands charge into icy waters to perform the holy dip ritual at India's Maha Kumbh Mela festival:::: Prayagraj, India:: Namrata Aggarwal, Hindi pilgrim from Gurugram:: “It’s been a life-changing experience and once-in-a-lifetime experience.