Explainer-What is special about Wednesday's 'royal bath' at India's Maha Kumbh festival?

Devotees walk from a pontoon bridge after a deadly stampede before the second "Shahi Snan" (royal bath) at the "Maha Kumbh Mela", or the Great Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, previously known as Allahabad, India, January 29, 2025. REUTERS/Sharafat Ali

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed and around 10 injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj on Wednesday, an official said, the most auspicious day of the six-week Great Pitcher Festival.

Hindus believe that taking a dip at the confluence of three sacred rivers - Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati - absolves them of sins and confers salvation from the cycle of birth and death.