A celebration of spiritual grandeur

Spread across a 4,000-hectare area, the sanitation system includes 10 walk-behind sweeping machines, over 150,000 toilets, 25,000 dustbins, and 5,000 urinals.

Baldev Agrahri’s reflective jacket gleams in the sunlight as he sweeps the chequered plate roads on the banks of the Ganga, collecting everything from discarded plastic bottles to half-eaten guavas. Holding a garbage bag in one hand and a broom in another, he moves through a maze of pilgrims – all gathering on the holy banks of the mythical sangam of the Ganga, Yamuna and the Saraswati river for the opening of the Mahakumbh on Monday.

Devotees at Mahakumbh on Day 1 (Prayagraj District Administration via ANI)

The 39-year-old earns ₹