Photographs by Thomas Kelly
at
Indigo
Gallery
Naxal, Kathmandu, Nepal
Sadhus: The Great Renouncers Main exhibition || Book Publications
About the Show: Sadhus
are an enigma to me, living the mystery of ancient questions that have
no answers. Tricksters, derelicts, madmen, charlatans, wanderers, mystics
and yogis, their boldly painted bodies confront us with essential questions
at the heart of existence. I found them wandering through crowded polluted
urban centers begging, to villages and what is left of forest and mountain
pilgrimage trails. Like walking mysteries of the human soul, for me,
Sadhus provoke the question, who am I? What do I need, what really is
important, and the more ancient pre-settled desire to wander in search
of god. Most importantly, they remind us that the answer for all things
only lies within our own elusive hearts. Volatile and unpredictable, spontaneous photography of Sadhus can actually be dangerous. You can easily be trampled or attacked if you immerse yourself in a naga baba procession after a mass Khumba Mela bathing. Or, without permission from a Mahant to work inside an Akhara, be accused of being a spy and have to answer to a Sadhu tribunal. There’s no such thing as achieving photographic acceptance within the Sadhu mandala. For me, photographing at ritual time is always the most dynamic and fluid. Once rapport has been established, a camera is tolerated, often with a sense of lila, or maya, play and illusion. It took repeated visits over many seasons and melas, to occasionally reach this level. My initial inexplicable attraction to the Sadhu world was mostly visual. As a photographer, I loved how they allowed their bodies to become symbols of the sacred- from walking around naked to remind us of our naked selves, to wearing ash to remind us what are bodies become, to dread locks to remind us of our natural wild natures devoid of social convention. Their bodies were texts, which spoke volumes regarding sacred symbolism. A Sadhu's body is a map of the Hindu universe, for the body is a microcosm of the cosmos. Like a canvas, the color and painted symbols aid in purification, inspire, and remind of the timeless divine beyond body and form. The body is used to tell stories. As the Sadhu works towards an ego-less state, he becomes the very symbols he has painted whether it be Shiva, Vishnu, or Rama. The colors refer to esoteric inner visions and possible alchemical states of consciousness. The real goal of a Sadhu is to achieve an attitude of non-attachment and transcendence of the physical body. As a photographer, I sometimes like to hide behind my lens, become invisible. Yet for Sadhus, it is their very outlandish visibility, the powerful symbols of the divine they paint on their bodies, which help them not to become invisible, but to transcend self. Disturbing, annoying, inspiring, exasperating, irrational, wise and powerful, photographing Sadhus is like photographing a living question that people have forgotten to ask. |