Thursday's crush, which also left 20 people injured, came at the start of a three-month long Hindu festival.
It happened as thousands of Hindu pilgrims rushed for places on a ferry in West Bengal state to take them to a pilgrimage site on Gangasagar island where the waters of the River Ganges flow into the Bay of Bengal.
"The rush became a stampede and seven people were killed," Surojit Kar Purokayastha, inspector general of the West Bengal police, told the AFP news agency.
Indian Festival Stampede
Purokayastha also said the accident was partly caused by a transport bottleneck.
The ferry service to the island had been temporarily suspended during low tide, resulting in a large crowd building up on the mainland side.
When the service resumed, the first vessel to dock was swamped by pilgrims.
Ritual bathing festivals were held along the length of the Ganges on Thursday as part of harvest festival celebrations across the country.
Indian Festival Stampede
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