Book review: Ascetic Games busts myth around Kumbh's camera-friendly sadhus

Sadhu politics can be like Indian party politics: always dependent on rent-a-crowd

It is a question that has often intrigued me. Each time there is a Kumbh Mela, tens of thousands of sadhus appear, seemingly out of nowhere. As the world media train their cameras, the sadhus march naked and then snarl or emote into the lenses. These images are relayed around the globe by enthusiastic TV channels: at one Kumbh, a British terrestrial channel even had a daily (yes, daily!) show on events at the mela.

When you and I see the sadhus in their full regalia (or not: many are naked), we ask ourselves the obvious question. Where do these