Lucknow/IBNS: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a holy dip in the Ganga river in Haridwar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Tuesday.

"Taking Maa Ganga's blessing on Makar Sankranti festival," he said in a post on social media platform X along with a picture of himself taking the dip.

Even though the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister did not disclose the location, NDTV quoting party sources reported that he took the dip in Haridwar.

Twenty-five million devotees plunged into the chilling water at the Triveni Sangam in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj city on Tuesday to mark the first 'Amrit Snan' (royal bath) of the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela, the event which marks the largest congregation of humanity in the world.

The official Facebook page of the mega religious event, which is being held after a gap of 12 years, confirmed that 25 million people bathed in the congregation point of the three rivers- Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati.

The followers of Hinduism believe that taking a dip in the holy waters of 'Triveni Sangam' during Maha Kumbh enables them to forgive their sins.

It is believed by Hinduism followers that the 'royal bath', a major highlight of the festival, gives them a chance to seek salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

Over the next six weeks starting from April 13, a whopping 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher.

The Uttar Pradesh government has been promoting the event not just as a religious gathering but as a cultural spectacle that in the past has attracted both Bollywood and Hollywood stars.

Around 160,000 tents, 150,000 toilets and a 776-mile (1,249-kilometer) drinking water pipeline have been installed at a temporary tent city covering 4,000 hectares, roughly the size of 7,500 football fields.