VIDEO. India: hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take a sacred bath in the Ganges

They were hundreds of thousands to come to bathe there this Thursday.

Hindu pilgrims gathered on the banks of the Ganges for the important religious festival of Maha Shivrati.

For Hindus, bathing in the holy river cleanses sins and offers salvation.

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Before dawn, men, women and children thronged for miles of shores to immerse themselves briefly in the living water while singing, then scattered flowers in the river as offerings.

Hundreds of sadhus followed the processions, those ascetics with bodies covered only in ash and wearing long dreadlocks, who also immersed themselves in the river.

This religious ceremony, called Maha Shivratri, took place as part of the Kumbh Mela festival which began on February 13 for a period of 48 days.

Two other sacred baths will take place by the end of these festivities, classified as intangible cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco.