(EPA/HARISH TYAGI)

Indian Hindu devotees perform rituals at bank of the river Ganges, early morning on 14 January 2010 first day of the Kumbh Mela (Sacred Hindu Pilgrimage) at Haridwar, Uttarakhand. For Hindu devotees, the three-month MahaKumbh Mela offers the chance to wash away their sins with a ritual bath in the holy waters of the River Ganges. Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage and It occurs after every twelve years and rotates among four locations Prayag (Allahabad) at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river, Haridwar along the Ganga river, Ujjain along the Kshipra river and Nashik along the Godavari river.