India's vast Hindu festival draws to an end
India's Kumbh Mela festival wraps up Wednesday, with final ritual river bathing ceremonies ending six weeks of celebration that organisers say have been attended by hundreds of millions of devotees.
Despite two deadly stampedes that killed dozens, the festival in the northern city of Prayagraj has been hailed as a triumph by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, bolstering its carefully cultivated image as a steward of Hindu resurgence and national prosperity.
Both Modi and his ally, firebrand Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath -- chief minister of India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh where the festival is held -- say the millennia-old festival has been the "grandest" yet.
The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.
The festival, which opened on January 13, ends Wednesday, coinciding with the Hindu festival of Maha Shivratri, in honour of the deity Shiva.
According to eyebrow-raising figures from Adityanath's state government, more than 620 million devotees took part in the festival, a staggering statistic even for the world's most populous nation of 1.4 billion people.
Millions more people seeking salvation are expected to shrug off stomach-churning faecal matter measurements to immerse themselves in sacred river waters on Wednesday.
Authorities say the estimates have been calculated using artificial intelligence and surveillance cameras, but the figures are impossible to independently verify.
The festival was marred by a deadly stampede on January 29 that killed at least 30 people and injured 90 others.
Officials insisted for hours that no one was seriously injured, despite graphic television footage from the scene.
Earlier this month, another 18 people died during a stampede at the main railway station in New Delhi when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to Prayagraj.
The deaths have taken the sheen off the government's claims of stellar management of the event.
But the twin tragedies failed to deter millions who continued to pour into the temporary township along the banks of the river.
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