Hindu devotees take a holy dip in the waters of the River Ganges during the Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar, India on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Naked, dreadlocked holymen were among hundreds of thousands of jubilant Hindu pilgrims who thronged the banks of India's Ganges River on Thursday, ignoring any coronavirus threat, for one of the nation's most famous and colorful religious festivals.

Authorities in Haridwar expect 2.5 million people for the Maha Shivratri festival, one of three auspicious bathing days over April as part of a major gathering called the Kumbh Mela.

Before dawn, men, women and children jostled for space along the several miles of riverbank before a brief plunge in the fast-flowing water, singing hymns and showering flowers into the Ganges.

The highlight later was set to be a jubilant procession by groups of hundreds of Naga Sadhus - naked holy men with long dreadlocks, their bodies smeared in ash - before their dip in the holy town in the Himalayan foothills.

Because of the pandemic the government has curtailed the Kumbh Mela, a mass event held regularly in different cities, and negative test certificates are in theory compulsory.

Announcements on the public address system in Haridwar blared out reminders to wear masks and maintain distancing as hundreds of volunteers sprayed sanitizer on the pilgrims.

AFP