The United News of India (UNI) news agency reported thousands of pilgrims took a holy dip on Wednesday at the confluences of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers, marking the end of the six-week festivities, which is also known as the pitcher festival.

Wednesday marks the wedding day of the Hindu God Shiva with his consort, Parvathi. Hindus celebrate the day as Maha-Shivratri.

Other reports said nearly two million pilgrims took the bath at the "sangam" (confluence) on Wednesday.

Officials had earlier predicted before the festivities began on January 9 that the Kumbh this year would attract over 70 million pilgrims.

The largest gathering of 25 million devotees took a dip on January 24. The five other designated holy days attracted much lesser crowds.

The mela (fair) had created a huge support system to take care of the comfort of the pilgrims. Watched over by nearly 15,000 policemen and an army of officials and medical teams, a new tented township had sprung up on the river banks.

The infrastructure for the festival had been laid out in an area sprawling over 12,000 acres along the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.

Except for minor incidents of fire, the festivities had no major mishap.

Indian newspapers had reported initially that Hollywood stars like Pierce Brosnan, Madonna and others may come to the area to witness the "pious sea of humanity". But they did not come.

The origins of the festival lie in the ancient belief in the conflict between the gods and demons over the possession of the "amrit kumbh," a pitcher filled with nectar.

After the churning of the "kshir sagar"—the milky ocean—jointly between the gods and demons, there arose a dispute between the two sides.

The legend says one of the fleeing gods whisked the pitcher from his pursuers, and on his way to heaven, rested at Prayag (the ancient name for Allahabad), Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain, where some drops of the liquid fell.

The fleeing god took 12 days to complete the journey, which equals 12 human years.

The next Kumbh Mela will take place in April-May 2004 at Ujjain city, located in central Madhya Pradesh state.