Indian organisers 'prepared' for world's biggest festival Organisers of the world's biggest religious festival, which starts on the banks of the river Ganges on Monday, said they were ready for the tens of millions of pilgrims expected to attend. The Kumbh Mela, which takes place on a 12-year cycle and will last 55 days, is being held in the northern city of Allahabad where vast crowds of Hindus have already gathered ahead of the first mass bathing in the sacred river. Images