Shambhu Bharti Baba, traditionally naked Naga Sadhu in sandy basement porch-shelter under Pilgrims' Guest-house above ancient Manikarnika Ghat burning-grounds at Ganges waterside in Benares, oldest cintinuously inhabited city on Earth. During six-months stay a few alleys down-river, I visited occasionally to smoke chilams, clay pipes as at edge of fire-pit, packed with ganja-tobacco mix & share Baba's silence vow along with small circle of his friends, devotees, local schoolteachers & clerks. One morning I brought camera, he invited me to take pictures rising to disrobe loin-cloth & G-string, stood nude beside Naga spear, brass waterpot & Shiva Trident. See _Indian Journals_, 1970, p.130. December 18, 1962, 10:30 AM.
1962, printed 1995
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 36.2 x 25.8 cm (14 1/4 x 10 3/16 in.) sheet: 50.4 x 40.7 cm (19 13/16 x 16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Gary S. Davis
Accession Number
2008.131.16
About the Artist
Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), born in Newark, New Jersey, emerged as a multifaceted figure in American culture, best known as a Beat Generation poet but also a prolific visual artist whose photographs, drawings, and prints captured the raw energy of his era. His early life offers little documentation on artistic training, though he attended Columbia University in the 1940s, where he formed connectio...