The world of the naga sadhus is collapsing. Some might say it has been reduced to a spectacle: the shahi julus and shahi snan during the Kumbh Mela.

Dhirendra K. Jha, one of India’s finest reporters, spent over a decade tunnelling his way into the highly secretive world of the sadhus. What he finds is explosive: the story of how political groups, especially the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) infiltrated the community, and of how akharas across northern India have been repurposed for inflaming the Babri masjid–Ramjanmabhoomi issue to enhance the political project of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He finds fraud and murder, money and power games, and a shrinking of the space for spiritual asceticism. Hearteningly, he also finds that a section among the sadhus is now pushing back.

Deeply researched and finely nuanced, this is investigative reporting at its best. It is also a human story, told with empathy for a disappearing way of life.