Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Shooting The Naga Sadhus At Trimbakeshwar Nasikh Kumbh Mela 2015




After I had shot the procession  Juna Akhara Naga Sadhus and while I was limping my way back to the bus depot I realized the bus service had been halted as the Udasin and other Naga Sadhus were arriving , so I decided to shoot this second procession , very colorful one and it included the Khalsa Akharas too.

This stretched a long way both sides of the roads were devoid of traffic,, and here was an array of different Sadhus a lot of dance and drum beats ,.. I shot it all ..once I finish this lot I will post the pictures of the Shahi Snan I shot the Shahi Snan ..29 August from 3 am to 6 am I shot most of the Digambari Akharas and this was my best shoot sadly I could not shoot this 12 years back Nasik Kumbh Mela 2002,.. Thanks to His Holiness Avdesh Anandji and my Naga Guru Shree Vijay Giri Maharaj Triveni I was eventually going to shoot it without any encumbrance and away from the Press Gallery ,, bloggers are basically lepers in the Presstitude  world of photography.and photo journalism..

More than words I believe picture talk shooting pictures is childs play it is making your pictures talk is the essence of true documentation.


The World Of Monks Mystics And Sadhus Nasikh Trimbakeshwar




I have posted 1300 images of my Nasikh Kumbh Mela trip Trimbakeshwar..,,as the Sadhugram where I stayed with my Naga Guru was about 3 km away from the main temple town and Brahmgiri and Neel Parbhat where the Naga Sadhus lived ,,I shot    the Naga Sadhus near our sector ,,

I could hardly walk long distance ,, but if I did I made sure I shot a lot ,,,Shooting the Kumbh should be part of retrospective of a peoples photographer ,,there is so much to learn absorb not only religion but culture and faith ..stretching beyond the borders of hope and humanity ,, there is an ethereal quality of satisfaction shooting the mystics at the Kumbh..

And I missed my Tantric Guru Kapoor Khamakhya he was there on 29 August Shahi Snan but we could not connect he is from Hardwar connected to the Khamakhya Temple in Assam..

Shooting The Worlds Greatest Event Kumbh Mela Nasikh 2015




Simply having a spiffy camera round your neck rad lenses does not mean you are shooting the Kumbh  you are merely taking pictures you have to re live the Kumbh on the parchment of your poetic soul , you have to breathe in breathe out the beauty of the Kumbh ,which is nothing but the composite uniqueness of India ,

I guess I am lucky to some extent as I had given myself to a saintly man a Naga Sadhu who  has read the Koran and gives a lot of respect to everyone ,, he was a teacher , so he understands the ethos of the leaning aspiration of his disciples .

I am perhaps his only Muslim disciple ,,,I share a mystical bond with this humble man I met at the Nasik Kumbh 2002   by the way the person in the picture is not my Guru ,, I met him after I had completed a 6 km walk with a Naga procession barefeet and in tiring conditions with a serious leg injury.. but God provides .

My Guru Shree Vijay Giri Maharaj hardly talks , but he works , he will find work.. all the interior work, the temple inside the living space , the kitchen was all planned and carefully executed by hi and his volunteers ,, he never rests ,,this simple sadhu from Karnataka Mangalore .

We hardly meet he stays near Film City I stay at Bandra , and after every Kumbh he goes into his cocoon cut off from everyone ,, he has promised to take me to Junagadh to celebrated Maha Shivratri with the Naga Sadhus ,,

He has aged a lot in these 12 years since I met him , he did the ling kriya before we left for the Shahi Snan making an old Naga Sadhu stand on the stick entwined to his penis ,.. and it is a tough one ,,There are Naga Sadhus that do ling kriya with their penis rolled on to a sword..

I met Hijras to at Ramkund they were from Kanpur , they touched my feet and wanted me to bless them .. thinking I was a Sadhu too they gave me Rs 100 as alms ,,this is the simplicity and devotion .. this is the true mantra of Make in India .

I used to beg with my Guru at the last Kumbh going from door to door eating left overs ,, and thus vanquishing the pwer of Ego once and for all .. this year he seemed to be troubled ..short of funds as it is not easy setting up a tent here ,feeding the new guests , and a lot of expenditure though milk grains cereals kerosene gas is subsidized at the Sadhu gram.

Most of his disciples did not turn up for this Shahi Snan because of Rakhi,, I am yet not sure if I do go back.. my Guru has asked me to come for the 13 September Shahi Snan..

The guy who takes care of our space at the Sadhugram is Mahesh Bhardwaj the main disciple of Guruji , he has been with Shree Vijay Giri Maharaj for last three Kumbhs ,,

He is the one who keeps me updated connected though he lives at Rishikesh .. he takes care of me at the Kumbh making my sugarless tea , though this time I refused to take hot water from him and bathed in chilled cold water early mornings ,, Nasikh in the nights can be very cold we dont have fans at all ,,

We sleep on the floor I had taken a bedsheet ,,but there were woolen blankets and mattresses that Guruji had hired for his incoming guests ,,

I was lucky I did not have to shoot the Kumbh from outside the public fence , I was more a mystic than a photographer and I was dressed in Sadhu garbs ..I applied vermilion on my forehead for the Shahi Snan only ,, though Mahesh wanted me to wear just a loincloth apply ash and take the dip ,,I thought what I wore was enough for me within my sartorial limitations ,,

My only regret is I was called by His Holiness Swamiji Avdesh Anandji and I could not make it as I left Nasikh Trimbakeshwar on 29 August with my friend  Vinodji a political leader from BJP Goregaon.. My return ticket was by train for 30 September ,, I could not cancel it , it was bought on Tatkal.

But I had a great Kumbh ,,I shot thousands of pictures from 26 August to 29 August,.. I could not ask for more  ,could I.

The Magical World Of Naga Sadhus- Nasik Kumbh Trimbakeshwar 2015














After the procession of the Naga Sadhus reached Neel Parbat the abode of the Panchdasam Nagas they all jumped into this pond and these are a few pictures for public rest are at Flickr I have restricted from public view durty to frontal nudity in keeping with Flickr guidelines.I shot a lot and this is only part of my fourth memory card .. there is the 29 August Shahi Snan a 32 GB card ,, and once all this gets over I will upload the pictures of Ramkund Tapovan shot on my Canon 7D ,, 
The Trimbakeshwar pictures were shot on Canon 60D

Flickr My Nesting Place




my flickr


I promote Flickr at Facebook Twitter Tumblr Blogspot several blogs and Ello ..I learn from the photographers on Flickr .. maybe I dont shoot some of the stuff you all shoot ,, but I implement your love passion humility on my shots on the street.. I shoot garbage because that is what this planet is all about .. I mean all the world powers are helplessly impotent worse than eunuchs as they watch the ISIS destroy the peace of the world ,, or are they enjoying it ,, the decapitation , crucifixions , rape sodomy slavery beats me ,, and a deadwood of a World Organization... The greatest mass murderer war criminal was President Bush and he is laughing all the way into the pages of History ,,

I am sometimes ashamed of living on this planet ,,where even God is locked up in a Church Temple and a century old Mosque ,, if God was God he would be helping Man re build the pillars of crumbling humanity ..

Fucked I Got Inked On My Ass By A Photo Editor




As a photo blogger the only ultimate satisfaction is I dont have to go under a photo editors desk to get my photo published .. I shoot what I was destined to shoot ,, I have rubbed some photo editor out there among the pressitudes ,, he could perhaps bully his newbie to remove me from his friends list... I mean such fucked boxed in mentality of a leading newspaper luckily I dont subscribe to it ,, I feel fucked sorry for the newbie.

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