PRAYAGRAJ: Unbathed for over 32 years, right arm up for 14 years, Rudraksha headgear of 45kg — ascetics with unusual ways and looks are head-turners at Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj.
Gangapuri Maharaj, 57, is all of 3 feet 8 inches and has not bathed for over 32 years. Radhepuri Maharaj, a hatha yogi (meaning resolve or pledge) from Madhya Pradesh, has kept his right arm up for 14 years. Mahant Geetanand Giri, secretary of Aawahan Akhara, wears a headgear of 1.25 lakh Rudraksha beads weighing 45kg.
Gangapuri says after the death of his parents when he was just nine, his “Guru Ma” adopted him. In 1992, he suddenly vowed not to bathe anymore. During the Ujjain Kumbh in 2016, he met his current guru, Mahant Rajpuri. During the Shahi Snan (royal bath), he completed this ritual by taking a drop of water from the guru’s matted hair on his head. Over 32 years have passed, and he has not bathed even a single day. Short stature is no shortcoming for this ascetic. “Height has never had any negative effect on our life. We became sanyasis from childhood and have been engaged in sadhana since then,” Gangapuri says. He wears five-inch-high sandals, custom-made for him twice every year.
Gangapuri mostly dons unstitched clothes and always carries a small trident and a Shivling given by his guru. Along with his normal sadhana during the day, he sometimes also performs shamshan sadhana (meditation in a graveyard) at night.
Mahant Geetanand, also called “Rudraksha Baba”, has come from Kotkapura in Punjab’s Faridkot. He wears the onerous Rudraksha headgear 12 hours every day to “protect humanity and Sanatan”. There are still six years left for the completion of his vow.
Radhepuri Maharaj is hogging the limelight for his hatha yoga to ensure the “welfare of the country and to make India a Vishwa Guru”. Earlier, Radhepuri kept standing for years and even slept in that position. His right arm has become thinner compared with his left, and his long nails have all gnarled up.
