MAGIC LOCKS

You have seen them bald. You have seen them with long matted tresses. But which sadhu at the Ardh Kumbh could have the best hair?

A Juna Akhada sadhu, Mahant Satyanand Bharti’s matted hair doesn’t need combs nor oil. All it needs is holy ash as nourishment.

However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t go in for a bit of decoration. He likes to adorn his hair with rings offered by devotees.

“I am a Naga sadhu and these locks are my assets,” says Bharati.

But for some other sadhus the rugged look just doesn’t wash, Swami Harish Giri and Surya Das say they prefer to be clean-shaven.

“I should not be called a bald man but I am a swami that is why I prefer to be clean shaven,” says Giri.

And what about the babas with the wet look at the banks of the Ganga?

There are many who wish their hair were always under water. Says Gyani Das Maharaj, “Nobody has hair like mine.”

Hair accessories including rudraksh beads and silver moons are major favourites among the sadhus. But the competition is always to see, whose locks are the longest