Today, a Kumbh Mela is held roughly once every twelve years in Hardiwar, Ujjian and Nashik.
The Kumbh Mela has been held on the banks of the Ganges for thousands of years.
Kumbh Mela chief Devesh Chaturvedi said "by evening the number of bathers had crossed 30 million".
Security helicopters have been flying high over the sprawling Kumbh Mela grounds in order to monitor crowds.
"I have attended the last three Kumbh Mela but the joy this time is unmatched, " he said.
However, government officials say their proposal for the Kumbh Mela festival has not been formally dropped either.
The Kumbh Mela, which translates to "water-pitcher festival, " is believed to be at least two millennia old.
Mela means a fair, and as with all fairs plenty of business is done at Kumbh Melas.
What is a farm owner from Australia doing with a boat at the Kumbh Mela festival in India?
Hindu saints say the Kumbh Mela belongs to them, and no decision can be taken without prior consultations.
But he missed his chance of coming to the 2001 Kumbh because his twin daughters had just been born.
The last Kumbh Mela, held in Hardiwar in 2010, was attended by an estimated 40 to 70 million pilgrims.
The once-every-12-years Hindu pilgrimage, the Maha Kumbh Mela has been taking place near the city of Allahabad in India.
The most auspicious day at the Kumbh Mela was last Sunday when some 30 million pilgrims took part in the festival.
BBC: India's Kumbh Mela: Tight security for key festival day
Both Kumbh Melas I saw were remarkable feats of organisation, occasions when the much-maligned Indian civil servants covered themselves with glory.
The Maha Kumbh Mela, a mass Hindu pilgrimage, has been taking place for thousands of years, with its origins in Hindu mythology.
Yet some of the Kumbh Mela's most passionate participants could mar it.
Taking place once every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh Mela Festival begins on 27January and runs through 25 February in Allahabad, India.
"The proposal to commercialise the Kumbh Mela has not been approved, " Uttar Pradesh's Development Secretary Praveer Kumar told BBC Hindi's Ram Dutt Tripathi.
From Harvard Business School, I am here to discover what the Kumbh Mela can teach me about real estate, urbanization, sustainability, and infrastructure.
FORBES: Why a Harvard Finance Instructor Went to the Kumbh Mela
India's Kumbh Mela festival, the largest gathering in the world, happens only once every 12 years and kicked off this week in Allahabad.
Dressed in saffron robes, this old man with a long salt and pepper beard has been a regular visitor at Kumbh festivals for many years.
He may not be sure about his age, but he is clear about the reasons that bring him to Allahabad and Sangam every Kumbh Mela.
The stampede occurred late Sunday in Allahabad, a city in Uttar Pradesh that is hosting this year's Kumbh Mela from Jan. 14 to March 10.
According to Hindu mythology, the Kumbh Mela celebrates the victory of gods over demons in a furious battle over nectar that would give them immortality.
People missing at the Kumbh Mela is the stuff of legend in India and at least a dozen films have been made on the theme.
Mr Turner has cherished his dream of ferrying pilgrims at Sangam since 1989, when as a 21-year-old backpacker in India he visited that year's Kumbh festival.
Far removed from the excesses of the shiny gurus and their rich devotees, these ordinary pilgrims make the Kumbh Mela a truly extraordinary event of faith.
BBC: Does the Kumbh Mela experience improve your well being?
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