Fakir

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According to Herbert Ponting, who took this photograph in 1907, this is 'a fakir in Benares' (Varanasi), India. Strictly speaking, a fakir is a Muslim religious mendicant, but here Ponting is referring to a Hindu holy man. He is a yogi, or one who practises yoga and is said to have perfected the control of mind over body to such an extent that he can withstand the physical pain of the bed of nails on which he is sitting. Actually, anybody can do this because the weight is distributed to so many nails

Fakir is etymologically an Arabic term usually used to refer to either the spiritual recluse and fierce eremite or the common street beggar who chants holy names, scriptures or verses. Its current idiomatic usage developed primarily in Mughal-era India, where the term was injected into local idiom through the Persian-speaking courts of Muslim rulers. When used referring to somber spiritual miracle-makers, fakir is applied primarily to Sufi, but also Hindu, ascetics.

Many stereotypes of the great fakir exist, among the more extreme being the picture of a near-naked man effortlessly walking barefoot on burning coals, levitating during bouts of meditation, or 'living on air' (and shunning all food). It is also used, usually sarcastically, for a common street beggar who chants holy names, scriptures or verses without ostensibly having any spiritual advancement.

It has become a reasonably common Urdu and Hindi word for a beggar.

Related Terms

de:Fakir el:Φακίρης nl:fakir

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