Mahakumbh – Day 2 / The Sadhus

I spent the day with Sadhus and Yogis.

The only thing I knew until now about the Kumbh mela is that people come here to take a dip in the Sangam on the six auspicious dates.

What about the Sadhus? What happens in the tent city? What do people do for six weeks?

Today I found out more.

The tent city is divided into sectors and each sector consists of small temporary dwellings. Each sector is allocated to a unique Akhada or denomination of Sadhus. In the olden days Sadhus also had to play the role of warriors and akhadas were their training grounds. Today their role is mainly spiritual.

So I went looking for the Sadhus in Sector 19 and Sector 20, not quite sure what it is that I was looking for.

Walked past all of Sector 5. The roads of the tent city were arranged like a grid – like Manhattan. Everyone was walking towards the Sangam – it was like a river of people flowing in one direction.

Since I didn’t know what I was actually looking for I joined the flow – keeping my eyes open for anything interesting.

Here are the five most memorable experiences of the day:

1. I found a man carrying his mother on his back – taking her to the Sangam. And another being pushed on a wheelchair. How important this event must be for them to undertake this difficult journey! Shravan incarnate.
2. I found a woman in tears – she had just discovered that her 8-year old was lost. People were already helping her. I clicked her picture to pass it on to the next policeman I saw… I hope that by now the family is reunited.
3. At one point in the aimless wandering I came across a singing group of Shiv bhakts from Haryana. They are allowed to seek donations from the offerings made to Sadhus. They knew where they were going and so I began shadowing them. We chatted along the way and they told me they could visit me in Mumbai and do the Shiv Katha! They stopped at the huts of many Naga Sadhus and being with them allowed me a chance to observe the Sadhus for a bit longer. Covered in ash, they wore nothing but a loin cloth while I was covered in 3 layers of clothing for the 15 degrees Centigrade. I wondered how they could do this!! At some point I separated from the Haryanvis, worried about overstaying my welcome and needing to rest a bit.
4. After wandering into the less-crowded side lanes, I saw an empty hut with some chairs and sat down. In about 10 minutes a young Sadhu appeared and I realised I was sitting in his hut. He didn’t mind. We began chatting as two travellers. He had just returned from his Ganga Snan and was wearing orange robes. He was getting ready to set up the”Chetana” or initiate the worship fire. As he worked we continued chatting. He was a Yogi from Haridwar. He talked about vibrations and the universe and energy.. His helpers handed him his hat and his sunglasses. I was pleased he was entertaining my questions and so I asked him how exactly he practices being a Sadhu. He said that he hasn’t eaten in six years and that he lives on Chai and Afeem alone!!! He didn’t have any airs of grandeur about this feat and said it matter-of-factly. In some time a group of seniors from the Devasi community from Rajasthan came along for “Darshan” of this “Naga” Sadhu baba and some prostrated before him and touched his feet. Until then I had no idea that he was a Naga Sadhu!
   He was allowing me to treat him like an ordinary person even though he was used to being worshipped by others.
   After a “we will meet again” farewell I started walking back. Couldn’t stop thinking about the faith of the group I’d just met and of the extraordinary feats of the Naga Sadhu.
5. On the way back I was redirected from one bridge to another and then again to bridge number 16 which was really far away. But maybe there’s always a reason for these detours. On the bridge I saw an old devotee using prayer beads under hand-cover. I’d seen these covers in my antique textile work. But never in use in real life. So I stopped him to ask the reason for the cover. His wife answered that he does not speak – he has taken the oath of silence or Moun. So he wrote out the answer for me and his wife read it out – to prevent “drishti dosh”. As we walked along the bridge I asked how is it possible to avoid this in all aspects of life … so he answered – again in writing that his wife read out – that drishti dosh has to be avoided in 4 aspects of life: Worship, Eating or consumption, Wealth and Love. We kept stopping on the bridge so often for these write-n-read sessions that it caught the attention of the UP police and one of the constables walked down to us to herd us on!

There’s so much to learn from these simple interactions… and so many miles to walk before I leave!

🙏🏽

jm / wovensouls.com