ALLAHABAD, India -- Nearly two million Hindu sages and pilgrims from all over India washed away their sins in the holy waters of the Ganges River Tuesday on the first major bathing day of the world's largest religious gathering, AFP said.

Up to 70 million devotees -- watched by television cameras from around the world -- are expected to pass through the 42-day Maha Kumbh Mela (Great Kumbh Fair) next to the northern town of Allahabad.

For the estimated two million people already gathered at the vast 5,000-acre (2,000-hectare) pilgrimage site, the bathing ritual began shortly after midnight Monday, amid near freezing temperatures.

In their tens of thousands, the pilgrims -- men, women and children from all over India -- walked to the banks of the converging Yamuna and Ganges rivers, immersing themselves up to their waists and pouring the freezing, holy waters over their heads and shoulders.

Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh Mela coincides with a particularly auspicious planetary alignment, which devotees see as a chance to purify their souls through the bathing ritual.

The bathing area covered a six kilometer (four-mile) stretch of river bank, with 1.8 million pilgrims expected to take a purifying dip during the day.

Thousands of small boats were gathered along the bank, ferrying the devotees to the precise area where the Yamuna and Ganges rivers converge.