Every 12 years a Hindu festival called the Kumbh Mela takes place in northern India, where four sacred rivers meet. People come to bathe in the water, which they believe washes away their mistakes. In 2025 more than 500 million people showed up over six weeks. That’s about one out of every 16 humans on Earth.
The tent city built for them is so huge it has its own roads, hospitals, schools and police stations. From the air it looks like a brand-new city has appeared overnight, only made of canvas instead of brick. Satellites in space can clearly see the bright lights and grids of tents from orbit.
On the holiest days, tens of millions of people crowd the riverbanks at once. The 2025 festival broke records previous Kumbh Melas had already set. It is the biggest event humans have ever organized - bigger than the Olympics, the World Cup and any concert ever held, all put together.
