Sacred and political: Over 1 million people to attend Kumbh mela in January

Sacred and political-Over 1 million people to attend Kumbh mela in January Organisers are erecting temporary bridges, 600 mass kitchens, more than 100,000 portable toilets

Spirituality, politics and tourism: welcome to the Kumbh Mela, the world's largest gathering of humanity, that begins next month in India.During the Kumbh Mela, to be held in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, millions of pilgrims including naked, ash-smeared ascetics, will bathe at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and a mythical third river, the Saraswati.Devout Hindus believe that bathing in the waters of the Ganges absolves people of sins and bathing at the time of the Kumbh brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.The government says about 100 million to 150 million people, including one million foreign tourists, are expected to attend over the eight-week festival period beginning on January 15, and the scale of the efforts to feed and house the pilgrims is immense.

Organisers are erecting temporary bridges, 600 mass kitchens, more than 100,000 portable toilets, and vast tents, each sleeping thousands of pilgrims at a time, in a pop-up city on the banks of the two rivers.And yet, based on tradition, there shouldn't be quite such a giant event next year - which is where politics and tourism promotion comes in.The Kumbh Mela is traditionally held every three years in one of four cities along India's sacred rivers, with one of the largest of those in Prayagraj.

The next Kumbh Mela, meaning "festival of the pot", was due to be held in the city in 2025.But with a general election due by May in which the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces a tough contest, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has transformed a smaller Ardh, or "half" Kumbh Mela, into a full version of the festival.The BJP controls both the federal and the Uttar Pradesh governments.And this "half Kumbh" may by some measures end up being one of the biggest Kumbhs yet because of the state's massive promotional efforts, especially as Prayagraj – which until recently was known as Allahabad - is seen as the holiest of the four sites.Besides the upcoming election, the promotion coincides with an international charm offensive to improve the image of Uttar Pradesh, India's most READ

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