Astride elephants, horses, bullock-carts, tractors and on foot they flowed into Allahabad on Sunday - the followers of one of the more colourful of Hinduism’s diverse sects of sadhus, the men and women who’ve given up family life and personal possessions to join an austere religious order. At the end of the several hours, after the chanting procession, emptied through the city’s east end and climbed out through the bridge over the river onto its Kumbh encampment, the civic and police administration let out a nearly audible sigh of relief.

For, the order in question, the Shiva-worshipping Juna Akhara, is not only high in number, but also has a reputation for being high on impatience and quick to take offence. With the order safely through the city and into its camps, a substantial logistical problem, which could have gone on to something more, has been got over. In fact, Alok Sharma, the youthful superintendent of police for the Kumbh (find out more about Alok Sharma here), had made it a point to request the order’s seniors to stop the procession as it passed by his office, to enable him to personally greet them; he’d done the same thing with another order the previous day. Such ego-massaging is an essential part of the job, and Kumbh administrators, especially at the senior level, are chosen well ahead of the event for their proven abilities in this regard.

Sharma, who sports a cheerful grin for the most part, in contrast to the stereotype of the police here, did it well. Wife and young son in tow, he garlanded the Juna seniors, assured them all help and further attention, accepted thanks in return with proper deference, and disarmed a couple of already-irate sadhus with a brace of garlands and a ``Respected Sir, everything will be attended to; just give us your blessing for this.” And the pleased seniors waved on their followers, while Sharma retreated to his own encampment to ponder the next set of hurdles.

The ponderous parade had far more spectacle than religiousity – naked men, bands blaring popular film music, the order’s seniors on makeshift chariots, being pulled by others less equal, the elephants, each hired for Rs. 2,000 from the city itself, at the procession’s start…there wasn’t much of the eschewing of pomp and show which monastic orders usually practice. But then, as a one policeman on route duty observed, even sadhus must have their own day. If not at Kumbh time, then when?

The Akhara arrives

Alok greets the Akhara