I had decided this time at the Kumbh Mela Ujjain mostly to shoot the diverse faces of India ,,, and Hindu spirituality as it reflected from the faces of the people I shot ,, I shot without method I shot impulsively ,,,and this was my first Ujjain Kumbh..
I was not into Akhara hopping ,, I lived with the Naga Sadhus in a tent that belonged to the disciple of Maha Mandleshwar Mahant Kalyan Giri ,,,Satyapalji who is the Guru of my Gurus Guru,
My Gurus tent was ready but Satyapal ji wanted us to stay with him..and my Guru Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj a scholar an ex teacher is a very simple man..you can gauge this from the very fact that I was his only Muslim disciple ,,,
And I have known him since my first Kumbh 2004 Nasikh,, through him I shot the Maha Kumbh,..the last Nasik Kumbh 2015 and Ujjain is my fourth Kumbh.
As my genre is people and street photography I would stand on the road near my Akhara and shoot people as they passed by .. as I was dressed as a Sadhu ,, many obliged ,,,
But shooting the Naga Sadhus needs tact as they can be very aggressive volatile towards the hands that wield the camera ..I had my crazy moments a Naga Sadhu chasing me with a stick.. he was only comfortable with foreigners shooting him.. I obviously could not dole out dollars ,,, and most of the Naga Babas blatantly seek money.. which really did not bother me ..
Even if I do not go for the last Shahi Snan on 21 May.. I shot a lot and of late I prefer shooting videos to stills ,,,I search for hardcore footage and I shot a lot of Ling Kriya with a spear with a sword .. Ling Kriya of Naga Sadhu pulling a car ,, and most of my images are restricted ,, from public view because of frontal nudity at Flickr .
Ling Kriya is Penile Yoga..at the Maha Kumbh Allahabad I shot
a Naga Sadhu pickinhg up a 25 kg boulder with his penis ,,, lol
Its Time Flickr grew up I mean the nudity of the Naga Sadhus does not hit you in the face nor is it obscene but yes as I follow Flickr rules regulations I have moderated my Naga Sadhu images accordingly ,,
