But there is much more to the Mela than shahi snaan and naga sadhus (sacred dips and naked ascetics).

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If bodybuilders were the ascetics of the festival, the strongmen were its mead-swigging friars, lumbering by with plates piled high.

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Both are hard-working, religious ascetics who care about the poor.

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Ordinary folks like us would want to believe that the suffering that ascetics undergo in order to toughen themselves up will in fact have deleterious effects on their wellbeing and health.

BBC: Kumbh Mela festival

Nadesar guests invariably want to witness the daily spectacle (best seen by boat): children plunging off the ghats, ascetics in search of alms, shrouded bodies covered in marigolds delivered to the funeral pyres.

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Many are worldly people turned ascetics eking out spartan lives as kalpavasis (those who spend their days in silent prayer) at the ongoing Kumbh Mela, the biggest religious gathering in the world.

BBC: Kumbh Mela festival