Who is the nude sadhu Modi’s shaking hands with?

KARACHI: Pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi bowing in front of a naked monk (sadhu) went viral a couple of days back. According to reports, Modi met the sadhu while he visited a temple in Chhattisgarh. The sadhu is believed to have been Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj, known as a revered and influential monk/ sadhu from the Jain religion.

Modi is campaigning for the state elections and Chhattisgarh is among the states where elections are due by the end of the year. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Indian prime minister wrote: “Feeling blessed to receive the blessings of Acharya Shri 108 Vidhyasagar Ji Maharaj at Chandragiri Jain Mandir in Dongargarh, Chhattisgarh”.

It may be noted that polling to the 90-member state assembly will be held in two phases -- the first one starting today (November 7) and the second on November 17. The Dongargarh assembly constituency is among the 20 seats which are going to the polls today.

Jainism is one of the four ancient religions that originated in the Subcontinent. In 2016, Jain religious leader Tarun Saga had addressed the assembly in the Indian state of Haryana -- also in the nude.

There are 4.2 million followers of Jainism in India, with small numbers in Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the US. Jainism in India has the highest literacy rate (94 per cent) compared to other religions. Jainism has 6.1 million followers worldwide.