Everything you need to know about the Hindu Gangasagar pilgrimage

Hundreds of thousands of people will gather on an island in the Ganges delta this weekend for one of the world's largest pilgrimages.

Each year Hindus from across India take part in a ritual bath on the shores Gangasagar, where the river meets the Bay of Bengal, to mark the Makar Sankranti festival. The holy dip is the world's second biggest Hindu gathering, and the largest that takes place annually.Each January pilgrims journey to Gangasagar, also known as Sagar Island, about 95 miles south of Calcutta in West Bengal. The island sits at the confluence of the Hooghly river, a tributary of the Ganges, and the Bay of Bengal. 

Hundreds of thousands of Hindus of all castes travel from across India, as well as elsewhere in the world, to take part. Last year more than a million people braved ice-cold water and winds for the ritual bath.