Gold, splashes, and naked monks: SEE Images from Hinduism’s holiest celebration (PHOTOS)

Once every 12 years, tens of millions of Indians gather for one of Hinduism's holiest celebrations at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythic Saraswati rivers. The Maha Kumbh Mela, thought to be the largest religious gathering in the world, celebrates the victory of gods over demons in a battle for nectar that would grant them immortality. As one of the gods fled with a pitcher of the nectar, a drop spilled here, in the town of Allahabad.

Participants at the Kumbh believe a bath in the river on one of the festival's auspicious bathing days can rid them of their sins. Associated Press photographers fanned out across the 55-day festival in the temporary city on the banks of the river.

The river was often a mass of bodies – men and their sons stripped down to their underwear, veiled women wading in the water, ash smeared ascetics wearing marigold garlands and nothing else.

Hindu devotees walk across a pontoon bridge as they leave after a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati River, during the Maha Kumbh festival, in Allahabad, India , Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. Millions of devout Hindus plunged into the frigid waters of the holy Ganges River in India on Sunday in a ritual that they believe will wash away their sins.
Thousands of people throng a platform waiting for trains to take them back home after visiting the Maha Kumbh festival in Allahabad, India, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. At least ten Hindu pilgrims attending the Kumbh Mela were killed and more then thirty were injured in a stampede on an overcrowded staircase of the Allahabad railway station, according to Railway Ministry sources. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

A Hindu devotee prays after a holy dip at 'Sangam', the confluence of Hindu holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the Maha Kumbh festival at Allahabad, India, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.

Hindu devotees pray against a setting sun, after a holy dip at 'Sangam', the confluence of Hindu holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the Maha Kumbh festival at Allahabad, India, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.

Hindu devotees walk across pontoon bridges as they leave after a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati River, during the Maha Kumbh festival, in Allahabad, India , Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.
Hindu devotees take a holy dip at 'Sangam', the confluence of Hindu holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the Maha Kumbh festival at Allahabad, India, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. Led by heads of monasteries arriving on chariots and ash-smeared naked ascetics, millions of devout Hindus plunged into the frigid waters of the holy Ganges River in India on Sunday in a ritual that they believe will wash away their sins.