Sadhus
¤ The Wandering Hermits
A sight peculiar to India and Hinduism is that of saffron-clad
hermits with matted locks who often travel from one holy place to
another with scarcely a possession in the world.
Just look around you, whether you are in a major metro, a state
capital, a small town or a tiny hamlet, you’ll spot a sadhu
somewhere on the landscape.
Their bodies smeared with ash, forehead anointed with sandalwood
paste, sadhus carry all their material possessions with them: a
begging or alms bowl, a wooden staff, a woolen blanket and many a
rudraksha or tulsi mala around their neck or wrists.
Some of them travel alone, others in small groups. Some have taken
vows of silence, some can be found standing on one foot for years
while others unpredictably burst into songs of religious ecstasy,
especially when high on ganja (hash or grass).
Others go about chanting hymns or indecipherable mantras.
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