PRAYAGRAJ, India, Feb 26: India's Kumbh Mela festival wraps up Wednesday, with final ritual river bathing ceremonies ending six weeks of celebration that organisers say have been attended by hundreds of millions of devotees.
Despite two deadly stampedes that killed dozens, the festival in the northern city of Prayagraj has been hailed as a triumph by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, bolstering its carefully cultivated image as a steward of Hindu resurgence and prosperity.
Both Modi and his ally, firebrand Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath -- chief minister of India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh where the festival is being held -- say the millennia-old Mela has been the "grandest" yet.
Both men themselves took part in the festival, with Modi bathing in the spot where the waters of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet.
The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.
The festival, which opened on January 13, ends Wednesday, coinciding with the Hindu festival of Maha Shivaratri, in honour of the deity Shiva.
"Our purpose to visit on Maha Shivaratri was to worship Lord Shiva," said devotee Shivam Kumar, 21.
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Helicopters scattered flower petals on the vast crowds taking part in sacred bathing rituals at dawn.
- 'Salvation' -
According to eyebrow-raising figures from the Uttar Pradesh state government, more than 640 million worshippers took part in the festival, a staggering statistic even for the world's most populous nation of 1.4 billion people.
Just on Wednesday, more than eight million devotees were reported to have shrugged off stomach-churning faecal matter measurements to immerse themselves in sacred river waters.
Authorities say the attendee estimates have been calculated using artificial intelligence and surveillance cameras, but the figures are impossible to independently verify.
The festival was marred by a deadly stampede on January 29 that killed at least 30 people and injured 90 others.
Officials insisted for hours that no one was seriously injured, despite graphic television footage from the scene.
Another 18 people died this month during a stampede at the main railway station in New Delhi when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to Prayagraj.
The deaths have taken the sheen off the government's claims of stellar management of the event.
But the twin tragedies failed to deter millions who continued to pour into the sprawling temporary township along the banks of the river.
Organisers now face the massive task of cleaning the site up after the festival ends and pilgrims go home.
Deepak Prajapati, 43, said his family decided to come on the last day of the festival because it was auspicious.
"We hope that our family has found salvation from the cycle of life and death," he told AFP.
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