Police say at least 30 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at the world's largest religious gathering as millions of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred waters during the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India.

At least 30 dead in multiple stampedes at huge Hindu gathering - Witnesses describe people describe surging crowds on the banks of the Ganges during Hindu festival

Hindu devotees and mystics have gathered in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on Earth.

People were trampled as pilgrims at the Maha Kumbh Mela, one of the world’s biggest gatherings, gathered where the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers meet.

The Hindu festival that turned deadly in northern India on Wednesday is a religious gathering with deep spiritual meaning for devotees who come by the millions to take a cleansing dip in waters they consider sacred.

Officials had been preparing for months for the world’s largest religious festival, with around 400 million Hindu pilgrims expected to take part