A video spread online shows an annual stone-pelting ritual in northern India, contrary to claims by social media posts that presented it as Hindu pilgrims attacking each other at the Kumbh Mela mega-festival.

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.

India's Kumbh Mela festival attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful to Prayagraj in northern Uttar Pradesh state, but footage of an elderly monk making an offering at a shrine that circulated online is unrelated.

View of devotees at India’s Maha Kumbh Mela after casualties reported Thousands of ash smeared Hindu holy men lead millions of devotees to take a dip in the icy waters of the holy rivers Ganga Yamuna and Saraswati during the second "Shahi Snan" (royal bath) to mark Mauni Amawasya,