By Saurabh Sharma PRAYAGRAJ, India (Reuters) -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,

PRAYAGRAJ: 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, or Great Pitcher Festival, seeking absolution from their sins.

Scores of naked Hindu ascetics smeared in holy ash charged into the water of holy rivers in northern India yesterday, dreadlocks flying, during the first “royal bath” of the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival.

India's Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, is set to be the world's largest gathering of humanity, with 400 million visitors expected at the six-week event that began this week in the northern city of Prayagraj.

Vast crowds of Hindu pilgrims in India bathed in sacred waters as the Kumbh Mela festival opened on Monday, with organisers expecting 400 million people -- the world's largest gathering of humanity -- to assemble over six weeks.India is the world's most populous nation, with 1.4 billion people, and so is used to large crowds.

Touted as an event for spiritual purificationin Hinduism, Kumbh Mela takes place approximately every 12 years at four locations -.Kumbh Mela, Maha Kumbh Mela, Prayagraj Kumbh Mela, Haridwar Kumbh Mela,

India began on Monday its Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, which is expected to draw more than 400 million visitors to the northern city of Prayagraj over six weeks, making for the largest gathering of humanity in the world.