CHILLUM JOURNEY

Ardh Kumbh mela goes beyond devotion, the colours, the songs in Allahabad.

The Sadhus an integral part of the spiritual journey and the biggest attractions in the mela are smoking Chillums in the name of God.

As dusk settles at the Kumbh smoke rises from the akharas mingling with the dust motes hovering over the fairgrounds. After a day of social interaction and public worship its time for another kind of communion.

The sadhus particularly the Naga Babas withdraw into akharas and silence."Babas smoke for their meditation and prayers. Like everyone has tea and rotis, mahatmas get into the habit of smoking the chillum.

Everyone has it but we have more here because of the fair," said Naga Mahant Saraswati. It is an old tradition amongst the followers of Lord Shiva and at the Kumbh most visible and prominent at the Sanyasi akharas.

"The chillum and the ganja is not the tradition of any one akhara, it's a personal thing and all the sadhus and babas don't smoke in front of their gods and deities," Mahant Raghumani, Sri Panchayati Bada Udasin Akhara.

"Every akhara has its own gods and deities. The reason for smoking this has been to help concentrate on their meditation but even that has its limits," he added. So while it's an open practice at some akharas like the Juna akhara others like the Bada Udasin Akhara like to keep it private.

There's a huge demand at the Kumbh both for cannabis and its preferred vehicle, the Chillum.Vendors like Neeraj get chillums from nearby Bihar and sell more than 100 a day for Rs 1 apiece.

As for cannabis the babas have it all."We sell many and they still run short. The babas buy them en masse," said Neeraj Gupta.

What is for many sadhus and babas an integral part of their spiritual journey is in popular culture, a completely different trip.