Holy men reborn as rivers meet (From Stroud News and Journal)

Holy men reborn as rivers meet

11:20am Wednesday 10th June 2009

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A UNIQUE film providing a window into the world of India’s holymen, is to be shown in Stroud this weekend.

Ganga Ma Shiva Om, a film made by Stroud artist, Fish who travelled to the Ardh Kumbh Mela in India is to be shown at Stroud Valleys Artspace on Sunday June 14. The film screening will be accompanied by live music from Tribe of One.

The Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage which occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations.

In January 2007, more than 70 million Hindu pilgrims took part in the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Allahabad, the site where the rivers Ganga and Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river converge.

“The belief is that when you bathe on this specific date, due to the movements of Jupiter , your sins are washed away, and you are cleansed and reborn,” explained Fish.

Fish’s film centres on the Sadhus , or holy men, who travel from all over India to take part in a ritual bathe in the rivers.

“My interest was in their total renounciation of all worldly goods. They have very few possessions and many live in caves in the Himalaya and meditate for most of the day.”

The film shows the build up to the Kumbh Mela and Ardh Mela in 2007 and features a procession of one of the largest groups of sadhus, the nagababas, or naked sadhus, returning from the ritual bathe in the morning.

Ganga Ma Shiva Om will be shown at SVA on John Street, Stroud on Sunday June 14. The event starts at 8pm and there will also be music from Chardash, as well as a tabla performance by tabla Tom. Tickets are £4.

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