As I write this with nostalgia I am in Mumbai at home while the second Shahi Snan 13 September is right now happening at Trimbakeshwar an impressionable moment as a photographer if you have not shot it you have missed something .. and you have to be destined to shoot the chaos the cacophony and the rising decibels the blare of the loudspeakers all drowned by the power of the chant of Har Har Mahadev..
I have been getting calls from my Naga Guru Shree Vijay Giri Maharajs main disciple Mashesh Bhardwaj.. he has been documenting all the Kumbhs with my Guru on video.. I was earlier not a video man but videos add an extra living dimension to the story of the Kumbh one of the greatest event for the Hindus ,,and for all of us a cultural phenomenon ..which gets a lot of mileage from the foreign photographers capturing every single moment.
Mahesh Bhardwaj is very fond of me since we first met at the Nasikh Kumbh in 2003 and he is the guy standing on a stick while my Guru did LIng Kriya ,, this time I shot a video of the Ling Kriya on You Tube ,,
Mahesh Bhardwaj was trying to tempt me to come back to Trimbakeshwar for the second Shahi Snan today 13 September ,, but it was not possible as much as I wanted I had work commitments , I thought some miracle would pull me there but it did not happen...as a photographer the Kumbh Mela is my passion ,,and I am lucky I shot the first Shahi Snan 29 September 2015 .. over 2800 images with videos .
So hopefully I will try to go on the last final Shahi Snan 25 September 2015 at Trimbakeshwar...Mahesh is saddened by the fact that at the first Shahi Snan they all took the dip with our Naga Guru excepting me as I had got lost in the crowds ,,with an injury on my leg and limping I could not catch up with them and ended with Swamiji Avdesh Anand Ji Maha Mandleshwar Juna Akhara s procession going for the Holy Dip.. it got me entry into the Kund and whole lot of Naga pictures .. disabled from public view at Flickr because of frontal nudity ,,,
So this is a memory of a Shahi Snan the Nagas become little kids leaping jumping in the waters of the Kund they become one with Shiva and he enters their bodies removing all inhibitions .. as this kund is very small and time the major spoiler they have to get our of the Kund before the next Akhara enters ,, all seamlessly taken care by the Nasikh Kumh Mela authorities...The mortals the public gets its chance once the Naga Sadhus and other Akharas have taken their dip..
Having shot the Shahi Snan at the Sangam Allahabad ..a huge sprawling area ..the Trimakeshwar Kumbh is a bigger challenge as it is small in size and totally completely over packed
..
Mrutyunjayaaya Rudraaya
Neelakantaaya Shambhave
Amriteshaaya Sarvaaya
Mahadevaaya Te Namaha
Meaning: I pray to Lord Mahadeva who has conquered death, who is the destroyer of the universe, who has a blue neck and who gives happiness to all....
This post is my humble tribute to my Hindu brothers my friends without them their constant love support encouragement I would be lacking in my art as a peoples culture photographer ,, the Kumbh Mela ,,,gave me an insight into the Hope Harmony Peace Humanity that is part of Great India .. living in mutual coexistence beyond caste color or creed.
