Divine Ecstasy

PHOTOGRAPHER BANDEEP SINGH’S images of the Naga sadhus are steeped in the poetry of the body. Sitting in small groups, smoking their chillums or calmly smiling for the camera, this poetry is visible in each frame. Every muscle, every sinew is relaxed and unselfconscious. There is no exhibitionism or attention seeking, simply bodies that are utterly assured in their connection with the divine. My first impression of these striking works reminded me of representations of elite athletes; think Annie Leibovitz’s many renderings of Serena Williams. The subject is elevated in both the literal and metaphorical senses. Singh never shoots the sadhus from eye-level and so you’re always looking up at them. If you’re that unselfconscious of your body, chances are you’re closer to God than the average Joe. If you can win a Grand Slam while eight weeks pregnant, chances are you’re closer to God than the average Joe.

The images are part of Singh’s upcoming photo-exhibition, Bhasmang: The Way of the Naga Sadhus, on display at Delhi’s Travancore Palace from February 24 to March 2. Currently Group Photo Editor at India Today, 53-year-old Singh is one of the most recognisable and acclaimed press photographers in India, creating memorable portraits of Baba Ramdev, Virat Kohli, Irrfan Khan et al. His personal output as a fine-art photgrapher has seen him exploring a range of themes and prac­tices—natural landscapes, portraiture, sensuality and so on.

Singh has been documenting the Naga sadhus for over seven years now, having first met them in person at Prayagraj in 2013. “I was drawn to the Naga sadhus at many levels,” Singh says during an interview. “There’s the photographer’s attraction to their dramatic appearance — naked sadhus with ash covering their bodies, the mat­ted hair, the spirit of abandon. But also, because of my deep spiritual leanings, I am attracted to images of anybody going against convention to follow the path towards the Absolute. So that vision of the Naga sadhu, stark naked, a seeker completely unmindful of social convention, it all fits within that frame. It draws me at a very inward level.”

In 2019, Singh was invited by a friend, a mandaleshwar at the Juna Akhada, to come and shoot images of the incumbent sadhus at Prayagraj. During this trip, he saw the lives of the sadhus from inside their tents, as they lit the dhuna (a fire used for worship and meditation). This was a crucial develop­ment, because in most pop culture im­ages of the Naga sadhus, you’ll see them posing or huddled outside of the tents. The subjects are outside their natural domain (if only just). Singh on the other hand was given the chance to peek behind the curtain, so to speak. What made an impression on him, especially, was the utter lack of pretence in their behaviour, and how this directly fed into their spiritual paths. “They don’t have sides to them,” he says. “They don’t have a public side or a private side. Their being in totality is One. That being is completely steeped in personal seeking, a life closed in detachment. And out of that detachment, they’re seeking the Absolute through a passage paved by centuries of tradition.”

This isn’t the first time that Singh has depicted naked bodies in a way that marries the physical with distinctly In­dian spiritual traditions. In 2005 Singh’s photo-series Sā: The Feminine (Antarghat: The Vessel Within) was on display at London’s MDG Art Gallery. This series juxtaposed the nude feminine form with the ghata or the clay pot, suggest­ing the idea of the body as the symbolic patra (vessel) from Hindu scripture. In his introductory essay from the show’s catalogue, Singh wrote, “The naked in the Indian context is an outcome of gaze rather than the absence of garment”. This precise sentiment is palpable in the images that make up Bhasmang: The Way of the Naga Sadhus as well. As Singh explains during our interview, the Hindi/Sanskrit word ‘Digambar’ doesn’t actually mean ‘na­ked’ as it is deployed in Indian popular culture. Its literal meaning is “he who covers himself with the four dishas (directions)”. In other words, covering himself with the Infinite.

Singh’s holistic approach towards documenting the Naga sadhus draws from his eclectic range of interests out­side of his professional life. He’s a connoisseur of Urdu poetry and qawwali music, a painter of abstracts. Because his father served in the CRPF, he grew up living all over the country. In his youth, while living in Jalandhar he would take weekend trips to Delhi, hunting old photography books and magazines at Daryaganj’s ‘patri bazaar’ or Sunday book market (“like discover­ing treasure,” he says). The accumu­lated learning, in which observing commercial or wedding photographers played a significant part, eventually paid off in both of Singh’s careers, not just his media role.

“When I am working for myself, too, there is an editorial process, too,” says Singh. “There are questions that I ask of myself about the images, and more importantly about the story that I am trying to tell through these images. It’s just that here, I can mould the nar­rative according to my vision, and try to express myself as freely as I can.”n

(Bhasmang: The Way of the Naga Sadhus, by Bandeep Singh, will be on view from February 24 to March 2 at Travancore Palace, Delhi)

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