The Sangam is where the Ganga and the Yamuna meet, and where the Saraswati is held to join them unseen. The two visible rivers arrive in different colours — the Ganga carrying silt, the Yamuna running darker and greener — and the line between them is discernible from a boat for some distance downstream before they mix.

This confluence is the reason Prayagraj is here at all. It has drawn pilgrims for as long as there are records of the place, and it is the site of the Kumbh Mela, held every twelve years, and of the Magh Mela, held annually through the month of Magh.

Boatmen operate from the bank and will row out to the confluence. Rates are negotiated rather than fixed, and services are suspended when the rivers are in spate — which through August and September is common.

Outside the mela seasons the site is quiet in a way that surprises first-time visitors. Early morning is the best time: the light is low across the water and the crowds have not arrived.