BOB ABERNETHY: The world's largest religious festival ... and one of the largest gatherings of people ever ... began this week in northern India. Millions of Hindus assembled along the banks of the sacred Ganges River to celebrate Kumbh Mela, or "the pitcher festival." Kumbh Mela is based on ancient Hindu mythology and marked by ritual bathing and purification. It takes place every twelve years based on planetary configurations. Doctor Uma Mysorekar, President of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, tells us about the festival and key Hindu beliefs.

DR. UMA MYSOREKAR: The pilgrims come from all over the world, of course largely from India, [and they] are gathered together for a spiritual exercise for forty-one days. I'm told this year over sixty million have gathered.

They bathe in the river Ganges. The significance is spiritual purification and spiritual elevation of the pilgrims. Bathing in this river is believed to purify and wash of the sins of the pilgrims.

Many, many sadhus come to this Kumbh Mela from all over the country and they walk hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Sadhus are considered holy people who have detached from the worldly affairs and ... who communicate to the public in a spiritual way, enlighten them spiritually, guide them [to] the right thought, and show them the willpower that is required for our day-to-day life.