Feb 4: Millions of Hindu devotees have joined the world’s largest religious gathering at a holy city in northern India, bathing in its sacred waters in a spectacle of colour and devotion.

A staggering 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, which began January 13 and runs until February 26 in the city of Prayagraj.

Safety concerns over the sheer number of people concentrated in one place were heightened last month following a fatal crowd crush at the festival. However, throngs of people have continued to gather in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers – the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati – to purify their sins and take another step closer to “spiritual liberation.”

Every 12 years the festival carries the prefix “Maha,” which means great, as it’s the largest gathering of the Kumbh Mela that’s held every three years in one of four cities.

The gathering is particularly well known for attracting large crowds of Hindu holy men, or sadhus, who travel from across the country. Sadhus are ascetics who have renounced worldly goods and life and are famous for their dreadlocks, ash-covered bodies and bright – sometimes minimal – clothing.

A Naga Sadhu applies ash after a holy dip on the third royal bath of Basant Panchami during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on Monday, February 3. R.Satish Babu/AFP/Getty Images

Hindu pilgrims enjoy a ride on a hand cart during the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela festival on Saturday, February 1. R.Satish Babu/AFP/Getty Images

A Hindu devotee performs rituals after taking a holy dip on Thursday, January 30. Deepak Sharma/AP

A mourner sits at the site of a deadly crowd crush, where pilgrims were killed in a frantic rush to take a holy dip in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers, during the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj, on Wednesday, January 29. Atul Loke/The New York Times/Redux

Devotees cross over a barricade after a deadly crowd crush on the day of the second Shahi Snan, or royal bath on January 29. Adnan Abidi/Reuters