The Print detailed how Eyebetes Foundation innovated by using Naga Sadhus’ bare backs as vision charts at Mahakumbh 2025. The unique sight attracted both pilgrims and the media, transforming the Sadhus into symbols of eye health advocacy. The article described the initiative as both startling and deeply effective in sparking conversations on blindness prevention and diabetes.
New Delhi: Letters from the Hindi alphabet in bold black Devanagiri script jumped out of a Naga sadhu’s ash-smeared back. The sea of devotees stopped to stare at his back as he walked toward the bank of the Ganges at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.
He’s one of as many as 50 Naga sadhus who have transformed themselves into living billboards for a life-changing cause—preventing blindness—under a campaign called ‘Undekha Eye Test’.
“People visiting Kumbh are doing two things – take a bath and photograph Nagas. The idea of turning the most ogled and photographed subjects into a physical moving outdoor hoarding for health was our only creative intent,” said photographer Rohit Chawla.
The campaign is the brainchild of Swati Bhattacharya, the global head of Godrej Creative Lab, who came up with the idea of merging spirituality with science along with Chawla.
For 15 days till 24 February, camps will offer free eye tests and diabetes screening for devotees and police personnel in collaboration with Godrej Creative Lab and an NGO, Eyebetes Foundation, run by Mumbai-based eye surgeon Dr Nishant Kumar.
“The beauty of this campaign lies in its simplicity and impact. More than any billboard or advertisement, Nagas were our true celebrity influencers,” said Swati Bhattacharya. ”We transformed the act of looking into an act of awareness.”
The campaign aims to reach out to over 40,000 people and generate conversations on health with the help of the Naga sadhus.
“I was genuinely tired of the visual cliche of Naga sadhus. Initially, it only used to be the obligatory western photographers propagating the so-called snake charmers and Naga sadhus as Indian exotica. But now it’s a national obsession of sorts,” said Chawla.
SOURCE: The Print