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Kevin Frayer / AP
Hindu holy man Baba Sanjay poses before and after he had his head and face shaved as part of an initiation ritual where he was to become a Naga Sadhu.
Kevin Frayer, a photographer with The Associated Press, took a series of photos of Hindu holy men before and after they had their beards and hair shaved off as part of the initiation ritual to become Naga Sadhus — naked holy men — at the Maha Kumbh Festival in Allahabad, India.
The initiation of new Naga Sadhus can only be performed at the Kumbh Mela, which occurs once every 12 years and sees millions of devotees converging at the confluence of three holy rivers: the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati.
Editor's note: Photos taken on Feb. 13, 2013 and made available to NBC News today.
Kevin Frayer / AP
Baba Ramshwal.
Kevin Frayer / AP
Brihaspst Giri.
Kevin Frayer / AP
Baba Vinod.
Kevin Frayer / AP
Baba Giri.
Leave a Comment:
If Obama had five sons........
Dude they look so stoned, I dont think they knew they were being shaved!!!
Must be that maharishi Indian weed, heard it's like really good, so good it puts a permanent marker on your face!!!
They dont call them holydudes for nothing!!!
They're rockin' those glassy-eyed homicidal druggie stares.
"Holy" men - yeah right
If I saw one of them on my front porch, I'd break out the Mossberg "persuader" and dial 911.
Before or after. No difference they are STILL scary and ugly as heck! Dang that is just ... ugly ... is the only polite thing I can come up with.
(one looks like a mug shot AFTER a mass murder.)
Veeeeeerrrrry INTERESting!!!
Wait a minute, that one guy still has a pigtail hanging down behind his head. And if they're shaving all the hair off how come everyone still has their eyebrows?
They sure are trying desperately to impress you with those "powerful" stares aren't they? Makes you want to laugh.
what are they high on ???
I'll bet that life will be a
little bitlot easier, not dealing with all that hair. I wish them the best at achieving their goals of peace and oneness with the universe.Religious whackjobs.
Holy Men? I have seen that look before...Oh Yeah Charles Manson...Just saying
I do believe in respecting others' beliefs, to each his own and all that, .... but I must say, with or without hair, these guys look like scary nutjobs to me!
Why are these photos unflattering? I gather there was some kind of a racist agenda behind it. You know...the way immigrant and minority men have been presented in American media chronically...as a bunch of clumsy, strange people, or crazies, druggies or criminals.
Try doing his with a bunch of Anglo boys with a bald head looking like KKK guys...you will not get much viewership. or you might get guns put up your you-know-what.
Or a bunch of guys in a suit who just committed financial fraud...while looking charming, or have shot their girl friend.
Your racism and your anti-Hinduism is showing.
I dare you to print photos like these of other religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam...You might find yourself in an armed conflict. But Buddhists, Hindus and Jains are up for any kind of stereotyping and scapegoating in the land of the free and open.
Now we know who runs your paper or news webpage.
Sorry...somehow I'm missing the racism part. I see before and after photos. That's pretty much it although regarding the comment at post 5 about the "powerful stares"?...mmm...thinking that possibly Mr. Sanjay and Mr. Vinod could be suffering from some ailment affecting the eyes - maybe hyperthyroidism???
How about some appreciation of the subjects and their photos!!! It would be a welcome change around here. I think the guys look pretty good shorn.
DR Ms , Christianity gets mocked on a daily basis , especially by the left and hollywood .The only religion I know of where people go into a killing frenzy if their deity is mocked , is islam .
Thanks Dr. MS. Our ignorance and disrespect of other cultures is frightening, to say nothing of the racism.
The writer of the article is not a devotee, so he probably doesn't know all of the subtleties of the hair cutting. Obviously eyebrows and a single pony tail are allowed.
I guess their holy cow will have his head shaved too then if everybody else is doing it ..