At least 17 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at India's Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering, a doctor at a government hospital said, as tens of thousands of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred river waters during the Hindu event.

Several people are feared dead after a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela Uttar Pradesh Prayagraj on Wednesday as scores of people turned up for a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.

Moments before a deadly stampede at the world's biggest religious gathering in India, Hindu devotees queuing to take a spiritual bath in a river said they pleaded with police to open barricaded routes to thin out a surging crowd.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest gathering with origins in Lord Vishnu wresting a golden pitcher with a nectar of immortality from demons after a 12-day celestial fight

A stampede broke out at the ongoing mega Hindu religious gathering of Mahakumbh in India’s Prayagraj during the early hours of Wednesday, reportedly killing dozens, as tens of millions of devotees descended on the holy city to bathe on Mauni Amavasya- the most sacred bathing day of the festival.

Videos from the scene showed victims being rushed to ambulances or lying motionless on the ground after a large crowd broke through police barricades.