AP PHOTOS: Hundreds join an order of naked, armed holy men at Hindu festival

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PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Thousands of devotees jostle behind bamboo fences to get a glimpse of the grand procession of the naked, ash-smeared and armed Hindu holy men. The Naga Sadhus are the highlight of the Maha Kumbh festival, the world's largest religious gathering now underway in northern India.

Worshipers jump over the barriers, running past police and paramilitary personnel, to seek the blessings of the holy men.

On the festival's most auspicious days, these ascetics walk in such processions to bathe at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers with the mythical Saraswati.

When they bathe, untying their hair, devotees jump into the rivers to touch the the water that washed the sadhus’ bodies.

Naga Sadhus are greatly revered, a rare sight outside the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival. Currently underway in the north Indian city of Prayagraj, it's attended by tens of millions of the Hindu faithful. With a history as warrior monks, the Naga Sadhus still carry symbolic swords, lances and other weapons.

At the festival grounds, they live austerely under the supervision of gurus in camps called akharas, a Hindi word that loosely translates as an academy.

It's also where new Naga Sadhus are initiated by the head priest.

New initiates make ritual offerings to their dead ancestors, including themselves with the dead to signify severing of their bonds with earthly life.

They're tonsured and shaved, leaving old identities behind, and given new names. They bathe at the confluence and perform purifying rituals before taking a vow to forego earthly pleasures.

The new initiates receive a sacred thread with three strands — symbolizing right thoughts, right words, and right actions — which they wear slung over the left shoulder.

Finally, the guru whispers a special secret message into their ears, making them a Naga Sadhu. The initiates enter a life of austerity and devotion to their guru and their religion.