Excitement was building today in India as more people joined the Hindu Kumbh Mela pilgrimage in anticipation of tomorrow's planetary alignment which marks the main event of the 42-day festival.
Twenty million people are expected to enter the Ganges river tomorrow which Hindu's believe will purify their souls.
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Pilgrims bathing in the Ganges as part of the Kumbh Mela festival
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Despite months of planning, organisers struggled to cope today with the last-minute influx of millions of pilgrims.
"We had made preparations for 30 million, but are actually expecting somewhere in the region of 20 million," said the Kumbh's chief administrator, Mr Jeevesh Nandan.
But as more people poured into the Mela grounds and waited for the "royal bath," the organisers were clearly worried.
"The major concern now is that there is a constant inflow with no counter-balancing outflow at all," Nandan said.
AFP
