Ujjain - Portraits & Reflections
When you watch, there's nothing to see
When you listen, there's nothing to hear
...
When there's no desire, all things are at peace
~ Lao Tsu (Tao Te Ching)
When you are not a part of it, when you are not an insider
it is easy to see all, it is easy to understand it in entirety
When you are one with it, you only get to see what you want to see
"There's this Kumbh Mela starting in Ujjain next week, you should go there", he said as we entered the elevator.
"err....I'm not religious you know"
He always had this air about him that I don't like, passive aggressive, touchy...
"I saw your photos of Pushkar, those people photos...you will find lots of interesting people in Kumbh mela to shoot"
That got me thinking. Perhaps I should go, I thought and I did - this was in April 2016.
Kumbh Mela in Ujjain wasn’t like the one in Prayagraj (Allahabad).
There was little water in the river - hardly enough to flow - unlike Ganga, fed with gushing snow melts rushing down the mountains, Kshipra is not vigorous at all - there're no snow melts to feed it - only inconsistent rains and mountains streams from Vindhyas.
At that time of the year, there were just a few puddles of water here and there - I suspect the local administration managed to let some water out of a reservoir for people not to miss the river.
There wasn't the flow of people either - unlike Prayagraj where there's a constant, unrelenting flow of hoards of people. There were some folk sure, here and there like puddles in Kshipra.
Not that I am complaining, there's always a flip side to everything. Lesser people, more space and peace, lesser chances of being an apple in a jack (that happened to me, oh! that was scary).
People come to take a bath in the Kshipra (considered holy) and seek blessings of ascetisc, especially the Aghoris.
The Aghoris
Also called Naga Sadhus, they wear ash for clothes, ash they pick from creation grounds, from the funeral pires that burnt themselves out, they smear their bodies with it. It's a form of ascetism that includes warriorhood. They are supposedly the protectors of the religion. I don't know the origins of this need for warrior ascetics but true to being warriors they are known to be on short fuse and quick to anger - not all of them, only those who go full hog with the weed and lose their heads, they crash land on the unenlightened, normal people, people like you and me.
At the top end of of the Aghori enlightenment spectrum are learned, stoic, goal less ascetics, guided by their own rules and religious texts. They don't care for your portraits, don't care for money, alms, don't care to eat, true to the spirit of being an ascetic. They don't care for your attention, there are just there. Go to them if you want.
Each To His Own
Some accost you, "aao bacche!" (literally: "come here kid"). Aghoris consider the normal people to be kids (figuratively) less enlightened. "Come here, I'm harmless, I will only bless you" - that's what it means.
They expect some alms (money is the most preferred) and adulation. But when a camera appears instead of a face over shoulders, expressions are interesting.
Some are too stoned to accost you, just go, seek a blessing and pay up.
"More, more!, what is this? who do you think I am?", he growled angrily. Anger begets alms. He needs to survive too, I get it.
Some have colorful turban (looks like a candy wrapper) wrapped around their heads by their disciples, some wear copious amounts of Rudraksh.
Most raise the right hand showing the palm - a sign of blessing. It is an invitation as well, a sign that they are not confronting you, that you are welcome to approach, most people do, that's what they come here in the first place.
Some were amused that I was taking their photo.
Some not so much. This one threw a banana at me for not listening to him telling me not to take his photo. I didn't notice, I apologized, "babaji ki jai ho! maaf kijiye!" (Apologies, forgive me!). He touched my bent head with peacock feathers, some poor peacock's feathers. Their anger is a blessing in itself, someone assured me.
An Aghori had his penis wrapped with a cloth that looked like a candy wrapper (just like the one used for the turbans but a smaller one). He accosted me to have a look at it - I approached him asked him about it. He told me that disciples do that to seek blessing, especially those who seek progeny. Ah! I don't need a photo of that!
Another one offered to show me a trick. A trick? I said, "okay!" - I didn't see what was coming.
He picked up a thin bamboo pole, stood up and wrapped his penis around it - I was nonplussed. "Oh no! I told him, don't bother. Please, that's okay." I said. He wouldn't listen.
Then he swung his legs over the pole one after the other so that the pole is behind him, his penis still wrapped around it, but holding it with his hands behind him and bent his torso forward slightly. Then he hollered at a man standing there ready. That man knew what to do. He hopped on the pole for a few seconds holding the sadhu's shoulders for a few seconds and got off and I nearly fainted. Not meaning to be impolite, I quickly took some snaps and got out of there as quickly as I could and deleted them later.
His point apparently is that he has a strong penis, so strong as to bear the weight of a grownup person.
Some like showing photographers that they are big time pot heads - blowing up a cloud of smoke as you lift your camera to shoot - as if photographers are like dogs who just need blow-some-smoke treat. I lapped it up anyway, perhaps they are right about photographers.
Shock & Awe
Then there were these piercing, sharp drum beats like death knell, I flinched. I heard shrieks of horror as I turned around to see a black thing, its tongue red as blood sticking out permanently, walking like a bear swinging to those ominous drum beats - I ran towards it but soon I felt an urge to get away from it - it was scary, coated in black paint and red for tongue and forehead. It was a she, I kneeled in front of her and snapped furiously. When I was done, she held her hand out, oh! I placed what I could get out of my pocket with mild admiration for the act.
People get shocked, place some money in his hand and run, that’s the deal here. It was a effective and convincing Kali act. I am still not sure if it were a man or a woman, fearsome nevertheless.
Portraits
Then there are a plenty of people pretending to be Aghoris (yes, smear yourself with ash) and do what you want - you get a license to smoke weed, get alms and adulation, undeserving albeit. I don't pretend to know who's what, though. These are just my observations as a layman, no judgement meant. I can't tell a true Aghori from otherwise.
