Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/05/30

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Subject: [Leica] Kumbh Mela
From: jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)
Date: Thu, 30 May 2013 23:32:20 +0530
References: <CAH1UNJ0qgupq++TXBRcKjSp4K=ixBB5y8cx5NUW=U2xZiGfXbg@mail.gmail.com> <5EDD0873-92FE-46E2-B19C-1F58E23D74BC@gmail.com>

Jean-Michel, Luis
Thanks for looking
Cheers
Jayanand

Sent from my iPad

On 30-May-2013, at 11:20 PM, Lluis Ripoll <lluisripollquerol at gmail.com> 
wrote:

> Jayanand,
> 
> I love these images, very interesting place, keep posting more please
> 
> Cheers
> Lluis 
> 
> El 29/05/2013, a las 13:55, Jayanand Govindaraj escribi?:
> 
>> I had been to the Kumbh Mela this year in February, to what is generally
>> accepted to be the largest congregation of human beings on the face of the
>> earth, and which occurs once every 12 years in the confluence of three
>> rivers, the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mythological underground river called
>> the Saraswathi - the spot is called the Sangam - in the city of Allahabad
>> in North India. It was an amazing experience, even though it was raining
>> pretty heavily throughout the trip, which meant that photographically it
>> was a bit of a washout. Only on the last day before leaving Allahabad did
>> some decent weather break through, and I got some photography done.
>> 
>> I have just started processing the photographs, and I am starting with a
>> couple of shots of the branch of Sadhus called the Naga, who are 
>> worshipers
>> of the god Shiva. They are amongst the most revered amongst the sadhus,
>> because they have forsaken everything of the real world, and go around
>> stark naked with long locks of hair coiled on their head. They are seldom
>> seen except for these major religious occasions, when they come down from
>> the remote aeries where they normally stay. They were conceived centuries
>> ago (8th-9th Century AD) as the warriors of Hinduism, and many still carry
>> some sort of symbolic weapon with them even today - swords, tridents,
>> spears, etc. They are also categorized, even today, into "akharas" or
>> regiments. They rub ash on their bodies, and smoke a good amount of
>> cannabis to keep out the cold. They are amongst the most photographed of
>> all Sadhus, because they have the right to be the first to lead all the
>> pilgrims into the water as day breaks. I was not present for that 
>> occasion,
>> but did meet a couple of them relaxing - they were very cool about being
>> photographed, and also talked to me for a while, before blessing me and
>> sending me on my way:
>> 
>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/kumbh/Kumbh_2013-20130217-626.jpg.html
>> 
>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/kumbh/Kumbh_2013-20130217-642.jpg.html
>> 
>> Please see LARGE.
>> 
>> Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome.
>> 
>> Cheers
>> Jayanand
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
> 
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In reply to: Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] Kumbh Mela)
Message from lluisripollquerol at gmail.com (Lluis Ripoll) ([Leica] Kumbh Mela)