I shot the Nasikh Kumbh in 2002 and I was very new to photography , I had shot Ramkundh Panchvati and Tapovan but here at Trimbakeshwar .. my luck changed after meeting a Naga Sadhu .. near Sadhugram.. I wanted to take his pictures , and he obliged but after a few shots he said he had seen me at Film City ,, I told him my Bollywood connection and he told me that he lived near Film City too and I parted ..
I was shooting the Sadhus at Sadhugram and finally after an hour or so I reached a tent to find the Naga Sadhu from Film City there , he called me in and fed me asked me to rest , the next morning was Shahi Snan I asked him if I could stay overnight at their tent ,,he agreed but I could not accompany them to the Trimbakeshwar tank for security reasons ,, he hardly knew me and I was a Muslim I had a press card but I needed a Kumbh Identity card that I did not have ,, I shot the arti the ling kriya the Sadhus pulling a car with their ling in the night and early morning I parted with them in the rains ,, I managed to enter the tank after the Naga Sadhus had taken the dip trekking for over 4 hours as most of the roads leading to the tank are closed .
This was my first Kumbh 2002 and I had a great experience not only as a photographer but as a all religion respecting human being ,, I had given my visiting card to the Naga Guru ..Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj of Juna Akhada ,,
I was shooting the Sadhus at Sadhugram and finally after an hour or so I reached a tent to find the Naga Sadhu from Film City there , he called me in and fed me asked me to rest , the next morning was Shahi Snan I asked him if I could stay overnight at their tent ,,he agreed but I could not accompany them to the Trimbakeshwar tank for security reasons ,, he hardly knew me and I was a Muslim I had a press card but I needed a Kumbh Identity card that I did not have ,, I shot the arti the ling kriya the Sadhus pulling a car with their ling in the night and early morning I parted with them in the rains ,, I managed to enter the tank after the Naga Sadhus had taken the dip trekking for over 4 hours as most of the roads leading to the tank are closed .
This was my first Kumbh 2002 and I had a great experience not only as a photographer but as a all religion respecting human being ,, I had given my visiting card to the Naga Guru ..Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj of Juna Akhada ,,
On my return to Mumbai after the Kumbh I had some work at Film City and decided to meet Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj and he blessed me and he was a teacher before becoming a Naga Sadhu so we got along very well , he visited my house and thus I earned his respect and kept in touch , he called me to Ujjain than Ardh Kumbh later but because of my work it was not possible till I finally went on his invitation to shoot the Maha Kumbh at Allahabad 2013 ,, I shot over 3500 images in three days I think till the Shahi Snan Basant Panchami..
And after 12 years I will be revisiting Trimbakeshwar ,,, I dont know whether I will go to Ramkhund shooting the Naga Sadhus is what I prefer as a photographer ,, So there will be silence on my timeline for a few days ,,
Om Namo Narayan
