Photos: See The India Man That Quit Bathing 37 Years Ago

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 It is not an achievement that can readily be savoured by his nearest and dearest.

But Kailash Singh has as good a claim as any to the accolade of world's smelliest man - after refusing to wash for more than 37 years.

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Mr Singh, 65, has not bathed or cut his 6ft-long dreadlocks since 1974, shortly after he married.

Explaining his unconventional decision, Mr Singh claimed a priest guaranteed him a much-prized son and heir if he followed the advice.

Despite neighbours joking the sweaty farmer would be lucky persuade his wife to have any children at all, his religious guidance clearly failed - he has seven daughters.

Mr Singh spends his days tending cows in 47C heat, yet the only 'cleansing' he does allow himself is a 'fire bath' each evening, which involves smoking marijuana, praying to the Hindu Lord Shiva and dancing around a bonfire.

His long-suffering family admit they did once tried to force him into a stream.

'He fought us off and ran away,' said wife Kalavati Devi, 60. 'We've tried several times since to force him to have a shower but he puts up such a fuss.

'He says he'd rather die than take a bath and only a son could change his mind. It has been so many years now I've got used to it.'