Kumbh Mela: Naga Sadhus' spiritual traditions unveiled through photography

India Today

A photographic exploration of Naga sadhus at the Kumbh Mela reveals their spiritual practices, symbolism, and lifestyle. The images, captured over two Kumbh Melas, showcase the sadhus' use of bhasma, jatas, and their warrior-saint persona. Digambar Maniraj Puri ji Maharaj provides insights into Naga traditions, including the significance of bhasma and jatas in their spiritual journey.

Transcript

00:00Good morning ladies and gentlemen, or as the Naga Babas say, Om Namo Narayan.

01:00At the Kumbh Mela, as we take a plunge into our bhakti tradition, our experience is made

01:18complete when we see the Naga sadhus.

01:22On the sandbanks of Prayag, they are like a visual presence of our ancient religious

01:28traditions, what we refer to as sanatan.

01:34With their ash-covered bodies, their jatas uncoiling in a… with a serpentine energy,

01:41eyes piercing with the fire of ancient wisdom and standing stark naked of all worldly possessions,

01:50these warrior sadhus embody our living spiritual traditions of bhakti, virakti and shakti.

02:00The images that you are seeing over here have been photographed over two Kumbh Melas.

02:06Spanning seven years, I have photographed them getting rare access to live with the

02:12Naga sadhus in their akharas.

02:16The photographs capture some of their practices and also their distinct body language.

02:21I recently had a week-long exhibition of these images.

02:25The core bhav to show these images is to bring to you a deeper, a more granular darshan of

02:33the Naga sadhus, much beyond how the reels and the viral videos have shown them.

02:40It's really fortunate that we have amidst us today Digambar Mani Rajpuriji Maharaj who

02:49is from the Shri Panchayati Mahanirvani Akhara.

02:52He will shed light on some of the key aspects of Naga sadhus as we share these images.

02:58Now this first image that you are seeing, here you have a Naga sadhu flinging his matted

03:05hair in the air to dust off the extra ash, also known as bhasma.

03:11Bhasma is one of the key identifying marks of the Naga sadhus.

03:15They hold it to be sacred as it symbolizes the ultimate truth, that which remains when

03:21everything else is burnt in renunciation.

03:27Moving on to the next image.

03:33The fabled ferocity of the Naga sadhu is mostly a performative act.

03:39It comes to the fore as Naga sadhus are historically warrior saints.

03:44Like actors donning a costume, they put on this fierce persona like a shield.

03:49It is a firewall to ward off undesired intrusions in their sadhana from curious onlookers.

03:57This is also to distance themselves from adulation and reverence, which is their path in their

04:03path.

04:04It is a trap of attachment.

04:33Moving on to the next image.

04:56Dense smoke swirls up as a Naga sadhu exhales after a deep breath of his chilam.

05:02Smoking of ganja, marijuana is widespread amongst Naga sadhus.

05:06They explain that it helps to enable strong focus and awareness during sadhana.

05:32So yes, in conversations I got to know that many of the Naga sadhus said that it leads

05:42to reduction in appetite and also sexual urges.

05:48Moving on to the next slide.

05:54Almost in a ballerina's pose, a young Naga ascetic applies bhasma on his body.

06:00Each application of bhasma is accompanied by sacred mantras.

06:05The white ash against their skin also represents that they have burnt all worldly desires and

06:10attachments in the fire of yogic practices.

06:56The dhuna or the sacred fire pit is the nerve center of a Naga akhada.

07:04The presence of the agni is manifested as a living deity.

07:10The dhuna is the axis of the Naga sadhu's tapasya and is never left unattended.

07:16To absorb the heat of the dhuna itself is an act of worship and purification.

07:27Next one please.

07:33This is Naga sadhu Digambar Karanbharti photographed inside a cave shrine near Haridwar.

07:39Contrary to their popular image, not all Naga sadhus live in a perpetual naked state.

07:44They are also not covered by bhasma all the time.

07:48That is their ceremonial appearance.

07:50Otherwise they live like normal sadhus in temples, ashrams, deras or Himalayan retreats.

07:59The next one please.

08:05Naga sadhus also have a streak of quirky flamboyance.

08:10They know the eyes are on them and they don't fail to seize your attention.

08:15Their spiritual state is that of a guardian knight of dharma.

08:20This image reminds me of the Urdu verse, hum fakiron se dosti karlo, gur sikha denge badshahi

08:29ke.

08:34The next one please.

08:38Now I have seen no active routine or practice of yoga in the akharas.

08:43However I saw many Naga sadhus perform complex yoga asanas such as this with utmost ease.

08:49You can see that there is no strain on the face and neither did I see any quickening

08:54of breath.

08:56The next one.

09:03As if consumed in a blaze of energy, a Naga sadhu douses himself with vibhuti.

09:09I see this image as an image of a galaxy and the Naga sadhu pervading it like a cosmic

09:15presence.

09:17It is an image of a sanyasi plunged in consummate anand, emblematic of the Naga saying, chade

09:24khaak, man hove paak, alak niranjan ape aap.

09:30But with bhasma, the mind becomes pure and the self becomes unsullied like the invisible

09:37divine itself.

09:41Next.

09:45This is Naga Baba Gangagiri drying his long jatas at the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar.

09:51The long matted hair are a symbol of the sadhu's vairagya, his detachment.

09:57The jatas are almost never trimmed as they are in some way a measure of the seniority

10:02of a Naga sadhu, the amount of time spent as a sanyasi.

10:07They also represent the kundalini energy flowing from the base of the spine to the crown of

10:13the head.

10:27The

10:48next one please.

10:53Newly initiated into the Naga fold, young Angadgiri looks disarmingly at the camera

10:59as he gets ready for the photo shoot by rubbing bhasma on his naked body.

11:04Now the Indic term for naked is digambar.

11:08This is very different from implying nudity.

11:12It means the one who wears the four directions as his garment.

11:17Therefore even without the clothes, the Naga sadhu is not naked.

11:23He is sky clad, he is wearing infinity.

11:31Next one.

11:36This is Naga sadhu Radhe Puri, he is a sadhu from Ujjain and he is an Urdu Bahu hath yogi.

11:45Now Urdu Bahus, hath yogis are the ones who are pledged to keep their hands raised for

11:49years and years in sadhana.

11:52He has not kept his hand down for the past seventeen years.

11:58Nagas perform these extreme feats to practice the power of mind over body and in that process

12:05gain specific siddhis or occult powers.

12:11I love this next image.

12:17Naga Baba Shaktigiri, the one who is standing and Rajpuri posed with their pets.

12:22They are four white mice and a pigeon named Haripuri.

12:27The former wears an outfit made of rudraksh beads that weighs seventy kilograms and the

12:33younger Baba wears a twenty-one kg rudraksh shiveling on his head which is often the perch

12:39for his pigeon Haripuri.

12:41Naga Baba Shaktigiri, the one who is standing and Rajpuri posed with their pets.

12:48They are four white mice and a pigeon named Haripuri.

12:53The former wears an outfit made of rudraksh beads that weighs seventy kilograms and the

12:58younger Baba wears a twenty-one kg rudraksh shiveling on his head which is often the perch

13:03for his pigeon Haripuri.

13:08The unflinching calm on the face of a Naga sadhu even as he is surrounded by a spiral

13:14of bhasma, it is a depiction of deep meditation, the state of samadhi.

13:20It also alludes to the divine presence, timeless and unchanging, surrounded by the cosmic dust

13:29of constant change.

13:34Next one.

13:39The ash-covered body of Naga Baba Sandeep Puri camouflaged by branches of a banyan tree

13:44coated with lime.

13:46This is a metaphorical image.

13:48It represents the Naga sadhu's nakedness as a return to the natural, a primordial state

13:55of being which is like a newborn child.

13:59The very choice to live like this with only what is basic and seeking only that which

14:06is essential, it is tap made visible.

14:14Next one.

14:17Despite the traditional swaroop or the appearance of a Naga sanyasi arriving from an ancient

14:23tradition, the Naga sadhus are also very much beings of the contemporary times, living a

14:29amid… amidst the material culture of our age.

14:32Motorbikes, mobile phones, social media are as much part of the lives of many of them

14:38as is being at ease without garments.

14:44Next one.

14:52This is the Naga Baba I met who has that amused look on his face, the dry smile on his face,

14:59this is decades of meditation have taught him to find humor in the ironies of bhakts

15:08coming and not seeking their blessing but straightaway taking a selfie.

15:13So this is…

15:14I was sitting next to him, photographing him and all of a sudden he saw… when he saw

15:21a bhakt not taking his blessing but taking selfie, he just looked at me and smiled,

15:25he said,

15:26aashirvaad bhi nahi le ka time nahi hai.

15:29Next image please.

15:37Informed by a childhood memory of Vikram and Vaital, I coaxed a performative image out

15:42of two Naga sadhus.

15:44The scraggy wizened old man sitting atop the young sanyasi wrapped in dhyan is a portrayal

15:50of how temptation tries to control our mind.

15:56And we now arrive at our last image, a lone Naga Baba standing on one of the pontoon bridges

16:04at the Kumbh Mela in the middle of the night.

16:08This is an image emblematic of our ancient sanyas and bhakti tradition on a bridge between

16:13present times and a timeless past.

16:16The next time, ladies and gentlemen, when you view a Naga sadhu, view him as a living

16:21symbol of the rich spiritual tradition of our country, we need to be proud of.

16:27And then fill yourself with pride and lift your hands and say, Har Har Mahadev.

16:36Thank you so much.

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