Guwahati: As smoke from ritual fires curled through the air at Kamakhya during Ambubabchi Mahayog, two unlikely figures who once measured life in contracts, deadlines and late-night plans were seen roaming the temple in search of spiritual fulfilment. One has now taken the path of an aghori, seeking moksha; and the other is a sadhu, living with little more than faith and a begging bowl.Sufi Nath (36), a business management graduate, didn’t look like someone who once lived for the next party. Raised in Punjab and educated in Armenia, he built a career in event management, chasing bright lights and the promise of money. Then, four years ago, the life he had curated — family ties, the bustle of work, the hunger for wealth — fell away. He left it behind without spectacle and began walking a different road, one that brought him back again and again to Kamakhya during Ambubachi.“During the days in the university in Armenia, I used to work as an event organizer. I used to go clubbing and partied all night. During those days, I became interested in seeing Kumbh Mela once and I had studied a lot about the Kamakhya temple and the goddess before leaving for Armenia. Always at night, when I came back completely drunk, I used to watch documentaries only about the Mahakumbh. All these things used to influence me psychologically. I returned to India a couple of years ago and went to see Kumbh Mela in 2021-22 where I met my guru Sameer Nath ji, who brought me here for initiation in 2023.”“I did not leave my job as event organiser. This happened on its own. I came to India to travel around and then some issues related to my passport happened. During that time, I started travelling around and also went to Kumbh,” he added.Nath said the meeting with his guru and the inspiration he got from the history of tantric practices here in the shakti peeth influenced him a lot. “That is when my life took a 360 degree turn from a party animal to an aghori and I realised the prime objective of human life,” he added.“I am so happy to be here at the Kamakhya temple on the Nilachal Parbat during this special time of Ambubachi Mahayog. Above this, there is no joy for me in life,” he said.Similarly, Mahant Pawan Nanda Giri, who was a builder until 2013, when he took initiation as a sadhu, cut off all ties with the materialistic world after he realised that he was not getting the peace he was looking for.He said, “I travel around the peethas in the country. I visit the Kashi Viswanath, Kumbh Mela, Maa Mundeshwari temple in Bihar and Kamakhya here. I belong to Bihar and I was a successful builder there before I took the toughest decision to leave behind everything and embrace life as a sadhu. I took my initiation in 2013 and since then, I have never looked back.”Giri wears rudraksha malas (garland), which he claimed weighs around 80 kg. He said he has been increasing the garlands every year and would increase it to one quintal by the next Ambubachi Mela. “Maa Kamakhya has given me the power to wear rudraksha malas weighing 80 kg. Maa is the supreme power and all magic happens here,” he added.
Mahant Pawan Nanda Giri, who was a builder in Bihar before becoming a sadhu in 2013
