I used to wear saffron many years back and it had nothing to do with religion being a product of Bollywood I dressed to raise eyeballs and I wore red turquoise and rust maroon,,
But in 2011 I took a vow as a Malang I stopped wearing colors I stuck to black.. and as I wore black for 2 month eight days in Moharam it continued ..I wore suits jodhpuris corporate clothes but never a tie ,, I wore it for formal occasions and I wore Hush Puppies but sometimes I would attend a wedding in a suit and barefeet .
When I went to shoot the Maha Kumbh I had a total black wardrobe my black Malang robes dhotis shalwars etc.. and it was here on Basant Panchami Shahi Snan day my Naga Guru Shree Vijay Giri Maharaj Triveni said black was inauspicious for the dip and would not do ..so he dressed me up as a Sadhu in white with vermilion and ash etc and I shot the Shahi Snan up close took the the dip with my Naga Guru.
This time I made two orange dhotis I could not get a matching orange tshirt I took all white bodyfits and bought a saffron shirt total sickly cheap polyester at Trimbakeshwar for the Shahi Snan.. The Naga Sadhus dont let you enter the Kund with them if you are in white unless your Guru stands up for you ,,I had to shoot the Shahi Snan I did not have an orange safa turban so I wrapped a wollen shawl from my Guru , and I did not carry my camera bag just my waist pouch and here too I was told they dont allow leather bags or pouches at the Kund ,, but I had to keep my cards an extra battery and a 50 mm lens I never used.
This picture was shot on the eve of the night of the Shahi Snan .. this is my 6 th card of images shot on 28 August after I came back from Ramkund Tapovan.. this includes the ling kriya of my Guru before going to the Shahi Snan and this is performed as an important ritual I shot the video instead of the stills when he actually performed it with a Naga Sadhu standing on the stick entwined to his penis .
This is a 8 GB card and the entire Shahi Snan that ends the Trimbakeshwar bit is 32 GB,, I did not take the dip as my Guru was not there I got lost in the Melee and this time of the Holy Dip is strictly for the Nagas and their Bhakts ,,
This entire series was shot on my Canon 60D
I shot the Ramkund and Tapovan on 7 D a camera I hardly use , it is mostly used by my 7 year old granddaughter Marziya.
I am yest not sure if I go back for the next two Shahi Snan but if he makes it possible than it might be not less than a miracle ..
The Shahi Snan pictures of the naked Naga Sadhus and the Ling Kriya can only be seen by Flickr members I have restricted it from public view as per Flickr guidelines.
Om Namo Narayan
Har Har Mahadev
