At least 46 people, including 37 children, have drowned while celebrating a Hindu festival in eastern India, a local government official told AFP on Thursday.

The 46 drowned in separate incidents in Bihar state while ritually bathing in rivers and ponds swollen by recent flooding, an official from the Bihar Disaster Management Department (DMD) told AFP.

?People ignored danger water levels in rivers as well as ponds while bathing to celebrate this festival,? said the official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The drownings occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday across 15 districts of Bihar state as devotees marked the Jitiya Parv Hindu festival, observed by mothers for the well-being of their children.

Authorities were working to recover three other bodies, the official said. (AFP)