Friday, August 31, 2007

Har Har Mahadev


Har Har Mahadev
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1
photo courtesy glenn losack md,


Lord Shiva or Siva is considered as the destroyer of the world. Shiva is one of the most popular gods of the Hindu religion. Shiva is also a kind-hearted god who blesses people. Sloka on Lord Shiva forms the part of prayers offered to the lord. Following is the Shloka for invoking Lord Shiva or Shiva Sloka.


"Kailaasarana Shiva Chandramouli
Phaneendra Maathaa Mukutee Zalaalee
Kaarunya Sindhu Bhava Dukha Haaree
Thujaveena Shambho Maja Kona Taaree


Meaning: Lord Shiva is seated on Mount Kailash; his forehead is decked with the moon and the king of serpents as a crown. The lord is full of compassion and the remover of illusion. Shiva is the only protector. I surrender myself to such great Lord Shiv-Shankar.
www.iloveindia.com/spirituality/sloka/shiva-sloka.html


in the waters of flowing faith
hands folded they stand
a moment of timelessness
in a drop of divinity
with hopes with prayers
all misfortunes withstand
lord shiva spirtualitys
fast selling brand
cosmic kundalini
sarv dharm ek
very few understand
a pulse of purity
mutual co existentialism
expand ..
har har mahadev
at your beck and command

Monday, August 6, 2007

Naga Sadhu


Naga Sadhu
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Naga Sadhus


Naga Sadhus
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Ling Kriya No7 Final Act

I shot this as my last picture my camera flash just would not work anymore...

Ling Kriya No6


Ling Kriya No6
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1
Maharaj was all set for the final act..

Ling Kriya Step no5

The main steps were complete the penis and the testicles were on the bamboo stick held firmly by Maharaj ...This was the tough one holding the stance .. without moving at all.

Ling Kriya Step 4


Ling Kriya Step 4
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1
This was done fast, and I could not hold on to my focus...but now both ends of the stick were going back...with the penis and the testicles all hanging on to the stick... that of course I coud not see.. All this was happening in the night and I am not a good indoor photographer, and I was new to photography

Ling Kriya Step No 3

Now once the penis was wrapped into the stick he twirled the stick through his legs , this also was done with a practised precision...

Ling Kriya Step No 2

Here there wasa pin drop silence and Maharaj was doing it openly inthe tent among women and children, he wrapped his penis around the stick...this was a tough technique, as he kept adjusting it several times to get the grip the skin on the stick....

Ling Kriya Step No1

Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj called for the bamboo stick that had been blessed at the Dhuni..he bought it near his penis and waited for me to take the shot , I had warned him that my flash takes time not being used to lighting nudity in normal circumstances...Maharaj gave ne a friendly smile but he was pensive all the same .. it was just a few hours left for the Shahi Snan

Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj prepares for Ling Kriya

After the grooming was completed Shri Vijy Giri called me and said he would show me the art of doing the Ling Kriya in steps..
His taking me into confidence surprised him , I was shooting slides and negatives.
Nikon F80 and Nikon F90 X. a single flash on camera SB 28.
It was surprising that all this while I was on my feet running with Maharaj since morning , he had taken me and had me blessed with the leaders of the Junagadh Naga Sadhus.This a mutual bonding , it takes time for a relationship to blossom, but Maharaj was a disciplined mind reader, I am sure he knew his pictures would go places,and I have just given him the copy of this CD three years after I shot them when he last visited me at home, watching the advent of the Internet.
What excited him was the Yahoo mail ID I got done for him..his first step on the cyberspace.
I showed him his pictures I had posted at Word Press, it was these pictures, that the hard liners objected ..on my site at Word Press.
I have erased that incident from my mind I was totally disillusioned as a photo blogger I wanted to give up this time consuming profitless enterprise..I deleted 11000 blogs in a single night.
I was accused of being in the pay of the Hindus and promoting Hinduism..
Those were crazy times... and Hate raises its head each time I post something.. that is real of photo journalistic value...
Luckiy I dont have porn in the body of my work..
I never sold my pictures , I have 10/12 prints all lying , because after becoming a photo blogger I gave exhibiting my stuff in salons..
The Kumbh is a life time experience dont ever miss it...
It is a spirtuality of a secular dimension...ritualism a way of life of people who are as human as we are the Sadhus and the Naga Babas...

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Pilgrims Progress


Pilgrims Progress
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Walking to the Kumbh


Secured Spirtuality


A Long Road to the Kumbh


The Majesti Moment Shahi Snan


Jai Shree Ram


Jai Shree Ram
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1
Here they are relaxed blessing the crowds , there is no other vehicle but those of the Sadhus only , I met an American Naga Sadhu too, I have his pictures in one of the CDS .
I met a black American Sadhvi too .. she was heavily smoked out.The Kumbh is fun and relaxation.Once you come to the Sevagram, the residence of the Sadhus you wont feel like leaving, they speak companionship, they want to listen to you , but all this is only here not on the Shai snan day, on this day they will have no regrets smashing your camera and lens..I talk of the Naga Sadhus.

Going to the Shahi Snan

The Shahi Snan or the Holy Dip in the waters of the Godavari is a big day, an nothing comes in the way of the Sadhus , the people cops all stay away from their path , right where I shot this picture a lady got into tiff with a Sadhu in front of eveyone he slapped her , but no one interfered , this is their turf, you dont mess with them n this day and they are time bound they have to reach by a time marked for them in the hiearchy.
This is the grand moment and they have the attitude of newly wed bridegrooms..

Friday, August 3, 2007

The Nagas


The Nagas
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Brothers in Arms


Brothers in Arms
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Helping hand


Helping hand
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

The Naga at the Dhuni


All done


All done
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Talking Shop


Talking Shop
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

The Naga Guru


The Naga Guru
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Naga Dread Locks


Naga Dread Locks
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

The Art Of Living as a Naga


The Naga Night of Nostalgia


Naga Body a Human Temple


Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj


The Art of Naga Grooming

These were memorable moments engraved deep into my consciousness...at first I did not believe I was shooting all this ,but I was ,on an analogue camera , negatives and slides.
I hate flash but I had to use it...
Had I gone to the Ardh Kumbh I think I would have shot better pictures as these are raw images freshly learnt photography...I shot all this from within ...I was never nervous or in awe of theNagas or their nudity I felt I was as naked as they were ..

Awaiting the Big Moment

The Naga grooming is very important , normally they use ash from the Dhuni or from the crematorium..one thing I must mention not once did a single Naga ever bother me or of the Faith I represented.They all knew I was a Muslim but because I was guest of Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj I was accepted as one of them.
No body taunted me , or pass a comment to discomfort me the same I cant say of people better placed and more educated here at Flickr...
All this I added tomy booty of experience.. I never knew when I shot these pictures that I would spread the message of the Naga far and wide.. this much as an Indiian I owe to them.. for their kindness their generosity and hospitality.

Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj of Junagadh Akhada

Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj was handeling the administrative side including the hospitality aspect, he was pensive , a bit dad too, as the Kumbh was at its lag end..
His sadness touched me , this was a human element touching the flesh of my sensitivity..
I found Sri Vijay Giri Maharaj spending more time in my company, telling me in detail aspects of the Arti , the Puja, I felt perhaps he was my blood brother , lost in space and now meeting on earth..for me this became our collective religiosty..
And Maharaj quoted frely from the Holy Book of my people he had studied my religion, he knew the scriptures by heart..but with a Sanskrit dialect.
This was the finest picture it shows beneath the martial outer skin the Naga is far too human and vulnerable...

The Naga Resurgence

All through the night cups of tea were given to the people in this tent..I found this tent to be the most exciting one, so did not even think of venturing to shoot other Naga inmates in other tents.. this was enough for me.
I had a human story and I wanted it to be spontaneous real .
I thank Shri Viay Giri Maharaj for allowing me to bea part of his troupe..
Sometimes more than this I think Lord Shiva paved the way for me to shoot the first Kumbh Mela of my Life.

The Night before the Shai Snan

The Nagas on the eve of the Shahi Snan dont sleep, they are like bridegrooms and the grooming would put a womans cosmetic adventures to shame .I was also awake as the devotees of the Nagas kept coming throughout the night, the idea is to take the dip with the Nagas , as the common man takes a dip after all the Akhadas finish their turn.
Most of the Nagas had bycotted the Snan because of the sniffer dogs that were let lose at Sevagram, as a security measure but the Nagas took offence and were really fuming..My Guru with his Guru were not bycotting the Dip.
I followed them till a certain limit and had to move away from them as I did not get the valid permit to enter the concourse of the Holy Tank at Trimbakeshwar.

Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj Naga Guru and Me

This was shot by my shop help when I went to pay my tribute to my Naga Guru Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj at his Shanti Ashram at Film City .
This was my first visit after our predestined meeting at the Nasik Kumbh Trimbakeshwar.
All the Babas devotees touched my feet to my sheer embarassment,but this is ritual for someone who is close to their Master.
This is Guru Parampara.
The Master is God... the light of God guiding you towards your destination.Without a Guru there is no Gyan.. no Knowledge.
The Guru is the door that leads you to your Nirvana.
I am indeed greatful to Maharaj for his patronage and this feeling does not hamper my Muslim upbringing .
This is the collective magic of our Indianness.
Verily Hindu Muslim Bhai Bhai.

Car Pulling Ling Kriya

I had missed this while posting the earlier three.The Nagas have mastered the art of using the inner strength of the mind.In the penis lies th strength of man, a few inches that can make a mountain out of a molehill.
This one human appendage is what the human history is all about.. wars have been won wars have been lost... The Nagas have done much study and much research but are closed fist ed about their findings and experience.
The Nagas dont like wearing clothes preferring the natural state a scarcity in todays promiscuous times..
At the Kumbh within the parameters of the Seva gram, they move about naked, their nudity not offending or alarming the womenfolk who visit the Naga Sadhu enclave in great numbers.
Their sacrosanct nudity is a state of auspiciousness conneced to Lord Shiva, so is the Naga war cry Har Har Mahadev.
I wish now I should have spent more time with them but I had a business to look after and so had to return from my pictorial escapades.
Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj of the Juna Akhada my Naga Guru, has been the light at the end of the tunnel.He amazes me he does not smoke the chillum coming from a teacher educationist background.Is very anecdotal about his past experiences.
He begs the main Vardan of the Naga Sadhu.. a part of hs livelihood and frugality of mind and austerity of soul.I feel ashamed offering him money,but I did the last time he came to visit me home on a Sunday, I told him , it was a travel expense thing.He nodded his head and smiled benignly.
I have seen his rich politician devotees offering him blank cheques at the Kumbh,but he would tell them to write a nominal amount to buy provisions for the common kitchen.
The devotees come in hordes and are fed without any stingyness.
The Nagas are not misers.. although they beg a part of their Dharma.
The average foreigner photographer just wants to shoot his dick ,but than there is so much to the Naga than his penis.A penis that he considers a stumbling block to his Sadhana,a penis that is nothing but a mirage , a loathing an umblical cord that connects to Maya or materialism.
This is what I gathered as a Muslim bought up human being living among Nagas for the first time.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Pulling the Car with the Ling

I was aseep in the tent, and heard a lot of commotion as the Nagas had to go for the Shahi Snan, only cars with valid permission are allowed otherwise vehicular movement is completely stopped .
The battery of the car had gone temporarily dead, I came out saw my Naga Guru not in the least perturbed, he tied a rope to his penis and began pulling the car.
There was no retake on this I shot as I saw it , no adjusments nothing.This was during the good old days of Provia 100 slide.. on SB28 Nikon F100

Pulling the Car with the Ling

The guys seeing I was shooting pictures began excited Nagas love to be photographed, but why they hate fair skinned white photographers beats me...All this was before I colored my hair blonde

Pulling the Car with the Ling

Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj cool as cucumber pulling the Fiat car that would not start with his penis..
I was to meet him at the Ardh Kumbh Allahabad I had reservation for the train journey but cancelled all this to shoot my first Moharam Ashura in Lucknow that back fired on me very badly.
I have never posted these pictures before ...