German 'naga sadhu' misses Lord Ganesh in Lord Shiv's abode

Varanasi, Jan 31 (UNI) A 50-year-old, who claims to be the only 'naga sadhu' of Germany, is missing his revered deity Lord Ganesh in Varanasi, considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva.

The lanky sadhu with long brown locks, a flowing beard and glinting blue eyes, Kalpeshwar Giri, who speaks Hindi, Sanskrit and German with equal ease, is presently the cynosure of all eyes among the saffron clad and naked sadhus dominating the riverside Prachin Hanuman Ghat here.

The sadhu, hailing from a small village near German city Stuttgart, claims to have built a Ganesh temple in his hamlet after taking 'sanyas' in the 1995 Ardh Kumbh at Allahabad. He is among the hordes of Kumbh returnee sadhus, who will reside in Varanasi till Mahashivratri and Holi.

''I built the temple in my village only to install the stone idol of Ganeshji, which was unearthed from an agricultural plot by a farmer of the same village nearing Stuttgart,'' claimed the Indology graduate, who skipped the job of librarian in Tubingen University (Germany) to attain 'sanyas' with 'diksha' from Italian 'naga baba' Dipak Giri registered with Joona Akhara.

''Germany is the land, where 30,000 'shivlings' were unearthed in the pre-world war era. Even natural objects like trees and rivers were worshipped by devouts just like in Hinduism, but the country's invasion by the Russians during the second world war demolished our ancient culture,'' he maintained.

A former varsity soccer player, Kalpeshwar now wants to reverse the tide by spreading 'Sanatan Dharma' in his land, which does not know anything about Max Muller -- accredited with translating the 'Bhagvad Gita' in German.

''Max Muller often called as Moksha Muller due to his travel to Kashi is my idol. This is why I am in Varanasi to breath an ambience replete with spirutualism. But I miss Ganeshji in this city, which is the abode of his father Lord Shiv, he said.'' The German sadhu leaves for his country in April and will be joined there by his four 'shishyas,' including three Germans and Harish, a man from Ludhiana (Punjab), who has been associated with Kalpeshwar for the last many years.

''My dhuni and ashram in Germany are frequented by handful of Germans and a large number of expatriate Indians, who break into tears after sniffing the spiritual scent of the Ganesh temple and the prasad made from flour and sugar,'' he noted.

And what is the German sadhu going to take back to his country besides the 'punya' (fourtune) gained by taking a dip in the Triveni Sangam at the Ardh Kumbh. ''The rora prasad made from flour and sugar, which is prized by my German and Indian devotees,'' he quips.

Besides, the sadhu will also take back choicest of 'chilams' (smoke-pipes) bought from Varanasi, which will help him enjoy the peerless puffs of 'Ganja' to be managed in his country.

''The puffs of Ganja, abstinence from any kind of sexual activity, ash from the 'havan kund' and the uncompromising 'tapasya' help me brave the freezing temperatures in Germany despite being all naked,'' claimed Kalpeshwar Giri refusing to divulge his German name.

UNI