Swami Bhupender Giri, centre, Naga Sadhu of Niranjani Akhara, arrives for ritualistic dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati on one of the most auspicious day Makar Sankranti,

Hindu devotees on Monday took a 'holy bath' on the first day of the Kumbh Mela festival at Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Naked Hindu ascetics smeared in holy ash charged into the waters of sacred rivers in India on Tuesday, part of a large crowd of 35 million devotees who took the holy dip on the second day of the Maha Kumbh Mela,