It’s late evening in the city of Prayagraj and the roadside vendors selling snacks are packing up their wares to shut for the night.

Millions of Hindu pilgrims gathered on Tuesday at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati rivers to take part in the first holy bath of the Kumbh Mela, the world's largest religious gathering.

Naked Hindu ascetics and pilgrims are taking holy dips in sacred rivers in the first major bathing day of the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on Earth.

India's Kumbh Mela began in Prayagraj, India, drawing millions to sacred rivers for the world’s largest festival.

For pilgrims at the largest gathering of humanity, ritual bathing in India's holy rivers includes a key challenge -- finding your family and clothes after the chilly dip.

About 400 million Hindu pilgrims from around the globe are expected to bathe in and around the Ganges in the religion’s biggest display of unity.

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.

Over about the next six weeks, Hindu pilgrims will gather at the confluence of three sacred rivers where they will take part in elaborate rituals.