One thousand sadhus will join the Naga sect at the Haridwar Kumbh on April 5, attaining the status after a three-year trial period.
They will discard their clothes to become one with nature and start carrying a dandi (stick) and kamandal (reliquary).
“Over 3,000 sadhus had applied to become Nagas but we have selected 1,000 after watching their behaviour closely for three years,” Sri Mahant Mahesh Puri, international secretary of the Sri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara, told reporters in Haridwar on Wednesday.
Ordinary sadhus can be awarded the Naga status by their akharas (monasteries) only during a Kumbh, an occasion that occurs once in three years. Such anointment is one of the highlights of a Kumbh.