Rajwant, nine, belongs to Ballia district and has come to the Kumbh Mela with his father who is a daily wage labourer.
While his father earns `200 a day, Rajwant earns up to `1,000 in a day. The little boy smears cheap silver paint on his body and dons a wig. His elder bother Balwant, 14, completes make-up and Rajwant is ready to pose as Lord Shiva.
With a “dumroo” in one hand and a small trident in another, he moves around the township chanting “Om Namah Shivay”.
Within minutes, he begins attracting pilgrims who come, touch his feet and offer him money — from `5 coins to `50. At the end of the day, Rajwant happily collects his earnings and returns to sleep with his father and brother under the open skies. Occasionally, Rajwant also gets to drink a “poori botal” of Coca-Cola.
“My father works as a labourer here and when we came here in the beginning of January, we had nothing to do. Then we saw some children dress up as Lord Shiva, so I made my brother do the same. He has already earned around `14,000 and by the time the Mela is over, he will be a ‘hazaarpati’ (one who owns thousands of rupees),” says Balwant with a smile.
The cheap silver paint that he applies on his body every day has given him rashes and small boils but the boy is undeterred. “Theek ho jayega jab ghar jayenge,” he says confidently. Incidentally, Rajwant has become a poster boy of sorts for the Kumbh Mela after his mug shot was included in the UP government’s Kumbh advertisement films.
Like Rajwant, one can see “little gods and goddesses” walking all around the Mela township, most of them dressed as Lord Shiva and some dressed as Goddess Durga. Pilgrims who come from the rural interiors can be seen reverently touching their feet and worshipping them.
Most of the children, who don the avatar of Gods and Goddesses, have come to the Kumbh from other cities while some belong to Allahabad. They may not know that religion also means money but they do know how to cash in on the religious sentiments.
Juhi, seven, has dressed up as Goddess Durga and calls out to elderly women with “Jai Maa Durga, bhagwan tera bhala kare” and instantly she gets “paid” for her blessings.
Inside the Akharas, there are plenty of little gods and goddesses too. Kanchan, five, in the Juna Akhara, lives with other women sanyasins and has been ordained as “sadhvi”.