The Tyagis

An important subdivision of the Ramanandi bairagis (those whose practice 'dispassion', 'non-attachment') is known as the tyagis ('renunciants, hermits'). This section is also referred to as tapasi shakha, or ‘penance branch’, since they perform extreme tapas. They often reside separately from other Ramanandis in (or near) khak-chowks, an open square reserved for the ash-covered (khaki) tyagis.
The mahatyagis or ‘great renunciants’ are the most extreme. They live without shelter and wear no clothing except a banana-bark loincloth; many keep silence, do prolonged fasts and practise hatha-yoga. Most tyagis keep a dhuni.
On the surface the difference between tyagis and nagas is negligible.
Baldeo Das (right), the founder of the Mahatyagi Kalsa, standing in front of his little hermitage, his hands in the tyaga mudra.
On both sides of the door hang potted tulsi plants. Evil spirits never come to place where a tulsi is planted; it is regarded as the meeting point of heaven and earth. Its tasty leaves—it is a kind of basil—form part of offerings and prasad, and out of its wood the beads of Vaishnava ‘rosaries’ (malas) are fashioned.
As a mahatyagi, or ‘great renouncer’, Seva Das (left) has taken a vow never to live indoors.
In his temporary ‘home’ at the Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, he is fully exposed to the heat of the day and the cold of the night.